BR  475  .R42  1909 

Paton,  Lewis  Bayles,  1864- 

Recent  Christian  progress 


Section 


/v"     .-^^^ — . 

(*     NOV  24  1909 

RECENT     W-^t- 
CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 


STUDIES   IN    CHRISTIAN    THOUGHT 

AND   WORK   DURING   THE   LAST 

SEVENTY-FIVE  YEARS 


BY  PROFESSORS  AND  ALUMNI  OF  HARTFORD  THEOLOGICAL 

SEMINARY,  IN  CELEBRATION  OF  ITS  SEVENTY-FIFTH 

ANNIVERSARY,  MAY  24-26,  1909 


EDITED    BY 

LEWIS   BAYLES   PATON 


THE    MACMILLAN    COMPANY 
1909 

All  rights  reserved 


Copyright,  1909, 
By  the  MACMILLAN  COMPANY, 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published  September,  1909. 


Nortooab  )|u8S 

J.  8.  Gushing  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith  Co. 

Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


PREFACE 

During  the  last  three-quarters  of  a  century  extraordinary- 
progress  has  been  made  in  all  departments  of  Christian 
thought  and  work.  Accordingly,  two  years  ago,  in  planning 
for  the  celebration  of  the  seventy-fifth  anniversary  of  Hart- 
ford Theological  Seminary,  it  seemed  to  the  Trustees  and  the 
Faculty  that  it  would  be  appropriate  in  connection  with  that 
event  to  publish  a  volume  of  studies  on  Recent  Christian 
Progress,  particularly  in  America,  prepared  by  scholars  who 
in  some  way  had  been  connected  with  the  institution.  In 
furtherance  of  this  plan  a  list  of  topics  was  prepared,  repre- 
senting important  branches  of  learning  and  effort  with  which 
the  Seminary  has  been  identified ;  and  out  of  the  long  hst  of 
professors,  ex-professors,  fellows,  alumni,  and  trustees,  those 
men  were  selected  to  write  particular  articles  who  were  dis- 
tinguished for  work  already  done  in  these  respective  depart- 
ments. Correspondence  was  begun  with  them,  and,  with 
scarcely  an  exception,  all  who  were  invited  to  join  in  the 
enterprise  promptly  accepted  and  promised  hearty  coopera- 
tion. The  result  is  a  collection  of  careful  studies  by  recog- 
nized specialists  in  all  parts  of  the  world  of  nearly  ninety 
principal  aspects  of  Christian  Progress  during  the  last  sev- 
enty-five years.  The  combination  gives  an  inspiring  concep- 
tion of  the  forward  movement  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  in 
recent  times.  In  presenting  this  work  to  the  public,  the 
editor  would  express  to  all  his  collaborators  his  deep  gratitude 
for  their  loyal  response  to  the  call  of  their  Alma  Mater,  for 
the  thoughtful  and  thorough  work  that  they  have  put  upon 
their  articles,  and  for  the  completion  of  them  within  the  pre- 
scribed Umits  of  time.  He  wishes  also  to  acknowledge  his 
indebtedness  to  his  colleagues,  Professor  Waldo  S.  Pratt  and 
Professor  Arthur  L.  Gillett,  for  their  cooperation  in  planning 
the  volume  and  in  revising  the  proofs. 

LEWIS   BAYLES   PATON. 
Hartford  Theological  Seminary, 
July,  1909. 

V 


CONTENTS 

I.     PRELIMINARY   STUDIES 

PAGE 

Semitic  Philology i 

Rev.  Duncan  Black  Macdonald,  B.D. 
Professor  of  Semitic  Languages. 

Oriental  ARCHiEOLOGY 9 

William  Hoyt  Worrell,  Ph.D. 

Class  of  1906 ;  Fellow,  1906-8 ;    Instructor  in  Semitic  Languages,  Uni- 
versity of  Michigan. 

Biblical  Geography 20 

Adelaide  Imogen  Locke. 

Class  of  189s;  Associate  Professor  of  Biblical  History,  Wellesley  Col- 
lege. 

II.     OLD   TESTAMENT 

Textual  Criticism  of  the  Old  Testament      ....      26 
Rev.  Mardiros  Harootioon  Ananikian,  S.T.M. 

Class  of  1901 ;  Special  Fellow,  1902-3 ;  Assistant  Librarian. 

Exegesis  of  the  Old  Testament 35 

Rev.  Augustus  Stiles  Carrier,  D.D. 

Class  of  1884 ;  Professor  of  Hebrew,  McCormick  Theological  Seminary, 
Chicago,  111. 

Higher  Criticism  of  the  Old  Testament        ....      43 

Rev.  Lewis  Bayles  Paton,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

Professor  of  Old  Testament  Exegesis  and  Criticism. 

Oriental  and  Old  Testament  History 5^ 

Rev.  Lewis  Bayles  Paton,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

Professor  of  Old  Testament  Exegesis  and  Criticism. 

Theology  of  the  Old  Testament 69 

Rev.  Edward  Everett  Nourse,  D.D. 

Class  of  1891 ;  Fellow,  1893-5 '.  Professor  of  Biblical  Theology. 

The  Apocrypha ^° 

Rev.  John  Luther  Kilbon. 

Class  of  1889 ;  Pastor,  Park  Congregational  Church,  Springfield,  Mass. 


viii  CONTENTS 

III.     NEW   TESTAMENT 

FAGB 

New  Testament  Philology 86 

Rev.  Samuel  Angus,  M.A.,  Ph.D. 

Graduate  Student,  1907;   Fellow,  1908;    Instructor  in  New  Testament 
Greek. 

New  Testament  Textual  Criticism 94 

Rev.  Matthew  Brown  Riddle,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

Professor  of  New  Testament  Exegesis,  1871-87;  Professor  of  New  Tes- 
tament Exegesis,  Western  Theological  Seminary,  Allegheny,  Pa. 

New  Testament  Exegesis ico 

Rev.  Melancthon  Williams  Jacobus,  D.D. 

Dean,  and  Professor  of  New  Testament  Exegesis  and  Criticism. 

Higher  Criticism  of  the  New  Testament        .        .        .        .109 

Rev.  Melancthon  Williams  Jacobus,  D.D. 

Dean,  and  Professor  of  New  Testament  Exegesis  and  Criticism. 

History  of  the  Life  of  Christ 118 

Rev.  Edwin  Knox  Mitchell,  D.D. 

Professor  of  Grseco-Roman  and  Eastern  Church  History. 

History  of  New  Testament  Times 126 

Rev.  John  Moore  Trout,  B.D. 

Class   of  1900;    Fellow,  1900;    Pastor,  Presbyterian   Church,    Dobbs 
Ferry,  N.Y. 

Theology  of  the  New  Testament 132 

Rev.  Edward  Everett  Nourse,  D.D. 

Class  of  1891 ;  Fellow,  1893-5  '<  Professor  of  Biblical  Theology. 

IV.     CHURCH   HISTORY 

History  of  the  Early  Church 138 

Williston  Walker,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

Class  of  1886;  Professor  of  Germanic  and  Western  Church  History, 
1889-1901 ;  Professor  of  Church  History,  Yale  University. 

Christian  Archaeology 146 

Rev.  William  John  Chapman,  Ph.D. 
Case  Memorial  Library. 

Mediaeval  Church  History 153 

Rev.  Curtis  Manning  Geer,  Ph.D. 

Class  of  1890;  Fellow,  1892-4;   Professor  of  Germanic  and  Western 
Church  History. 

The  Reformation  Period 160 

Rev.  Elmer  Ellsworth  Schultz  Johnson,  B.D. 

Class  of  1902;  Special  Fellow  in  Church  History,  Wolfenbiittel,  Ger- 
many. 


CONTENTS  ix 

PACE 

History  of  Doctrine i66 

Andrew  C.  Zenos,  D.D. 

Professor  of  New  Testament  Exegesis,  1888-91 ;    Professor  of  Biblical 
Theology,  McCormick  Theological  Seminary,  Chicago,  111. 


V.     SYSTEMATIC    THEOLOGY 

Philosophy  and  Psychology 173 

Walter  Boughton  Pitkin. 

Class  of  1903 ;  Fellow,  1903-5;  Columbia  University. 

The  Psychology  of  Religion 180 

George  Ellsworth  Dawson,  Ph.D. 

Professor  of  Psychology,  Hartford  School  of  Religious  Pedagogy. 

Comparative  Religion 189 

Arthur  Lincoln  Gillett,  D.D. 

Class  of  1883 ;  Fellow,  1888-90 ;  Professor  of  Apologetics. 

The  Conception  of  Man's  Place  in  Nature     ....     197 

Rev.  Ozora  Stearns  Davis,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

Class  of  1894;  Fellow,  1894-6;  Trustee,  1908;  President,  Chicago 
Theological  Seminary. 

Apologetics 205 

.Arthur  Lincoln  Gillett,  D.D. 

Class  of  1883 ;  Fellow,  1888-90 ;  Professor  of  Apologetics. 

The  Doctrine  of  God 213 

Rev.  William  Frye  English,  Ph.D. 

Class  of  1885 ;  Pastor,  Congregational  Church,  East  Windsor,  Conn. 

The  Doctrine  of  Christ 219 

Rev.  William  Douglas  Mackenzie,  D.D.,  LL.D. 
President,  and  Professor  of  Christian  Theology. 

The  Doctrine  of  the  Last  Things 240 

Rev.  Charles  Marsh  Mead,  Ph.D.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

Professor  of  Christian  Theology,  1892-8;  New  Haven,  Conn. 

The  Biblical  Synthetic  Disciplines 246 

Rev.  Clark  Smith  Beardslee,  D.D. 

Class  of  1879;  Instructor  in  Hebrew,  1879-81;  Professor  of  Biblical 
Homiletics. 

Theological  Encyclopaedia 251 

Rev.  Chester  David  Hartranft,  D.D. 

Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  History,  1879-92;  President,  1888-1903;  Pro- 
fessor of  Biblical  Theology,  1892-7 ;  Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  Dog- 
matics,   1897-1903 ;   Honorary  President  since  1903. 


X  CONTENTS 

TACK 

Christian  Ethics 266 

Rev.  William  Douglas  Mackenzie,  D.D.,  LL.D. 
President,  and  Professor  of  Christian  Theology. 

Theology  in  Belles-Lettres 270 

Rev.  Leverett  Wilson  Spring,  D.D. 

Class  of  1866 ;  Professor  of  English  Literature,  Williams  College. 


VI.     THE   MODERN    CHURCHES 

The  Modern  European  Church 276 

Rev.  Curtis  Manning  Geer,  Ph.D. 

Class  of  1890;  Fellow,  1892-4;  Professor  of  Germanic  and  Western 
Church  History. 

The  Congregational  Churches 284 

Rev.  Samuel  Simpson,  B.D.,  Ph.D. 

Graduate  Student,  1895-7  >  Associate  Professor  of  American  Church 
History. 

The  Presbyterian  Church 297 

Rev.  Charles  Stoddard  Lane,  A.M. 

Class  of  1884 ;  Pastor,  First  Presbyterian  Church,  Mt.  Vernon,  N.Y. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 304 

Rev.  Warren  French  Sheldon,  B.D. 

Class  of  1906;  Pastor,  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Simsbury,  Conn. 

The  Baptist  Churches 308 

Rev.  George  Marvin  Stone,  D.D. 

Lecturer  on  Baptist  Polity,  Hartford,  Conn. 

The  Society  of  Friends 314 

Rev.  Charles  Mellen  Woodman,  B.D. 

Class  of  1902 ;  Pastor,  Friends'  Church,  Portland,  Me. 

The  Reformed  Church  in  America 317 

Rev.  Irving  Husted  Berg,  B.D, 

Class  of  1904 ;  Pastor,  Reformed  Church,  Catskill,  N.Y. 

The  German  Evangelical  Church 320 

Rev.  Frederick  Henry  Graeper, 

Class  of  1903 ;  Pastor,  German  Evangelical  Church,  Chillicothe,  Ohio. 

Federation  and  Union  of  Churches 325 

Rev.  Charles  Sumner  Nash,  D.D. 

Class  of  1883;  Instructor  in  Elocution  and  Biblical  Theology,  1889- 
1891 ;  Professor  of  Homiletics  and  Pastoral  Theology,  Pacific  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  Berkeley,  Cal. 


CONTENTS  xi 

VII.     CHURCH   WORK 

PACK 

Theological  Education 331 

Rev.  Edward  Strong  Worcester,  B.D. 

Class  of  1901;  Fellow,  1901-3 ;  Pastor,  Broadway  Congregational  Church, 
Norwich,  Conn. 

The  Development  of  Preaching  in  America  ....    336 
Rev.  Alexander  Ross  Merriam,  D.D. 

Professor  of  Practical  Theology  and  Christian  Sociology. 

The  Minister  as  Pastor 350 

Rev.  Lewellyn  Pratt,  D.D. 

Professor  of  Homiletics,  1880-8;  Trustee  since  1888;  Pastor  Emeritus, 
Broadway  Congregational  Church,  Norwich,  Conn. 

Church  Administration 356 

Rev.  George  Walter  Fiske,  M.A.,  B.D. 

Class  of  1898;  Professor  of  Practical  Theology,  Oberlin  Theological 
Seminary. 

Evangelism 363 

Rev.  Edwin  Hallock  Byington. 

Class  of  1887  ;  Pastor,  Dane  St.  Congregational  Church,  Beverly,  Mass. 

Public  Worship 3^9 

Rev.  Edwin  Whitney  Bishop,  D.D. 

Class  of  1897;    Fellow,  1898;   Pastor,  Second  Congregational  Church, 
Oak  Park,  111. 

English  Hymnody 374 

Waldo  Selden  Pratt,  Mus.D. 

Professor  of  Ecclesiastical  Music  and  Hymnology. 

Church  Music 3^2 

Rev.  Henry  Dike  Sleeper,  F.A.G.O. 

Class  of  1891 ;  Professor  of  Music,  Smith  College. 

The  City  Church 39° 

Rev.  Henry  Albert  Stimson,  D.D. 

Trustee  since  1905 ;    Pastor,  Manhattan  Congregational  Church,  New 
York  City. 

The  Country  Church 397 

Rev.  Thomas  Cole  Richards. 

Class  of  1890;  Pastor,  First  Congregational  Church,  Warren,  Mass. 

The  Sunday-School 404 

Rev.  Henry  Park  Schauffler. 

Class  of  189S  ;  Pastor,  Olivet  Memorial  Church,  New  York  City. 

The  Religious  Activity  of  Young  People  within  the  Church    412 

Rev.  Frederick  Walter  Greene. 

Class  of  1885  ;  Pastor,  South  Congregational  Church,  Middletown,  Conn. 


xii  CONTENTS 

VIII.     ALLIED   AGENCIES 

PAGE 

The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 418 

Howard  Arnold  Walter,  M.A.,  B.D. 
Class  of  1909 ;  Fellow,  1909-10. 

The  Young  Women's  Christian  Association     .        .        ,        .    425 

Laura  Hulda  Wild,  B.D. 

Class  of  1896;    Instructor  in  the  University  of  Nebraska,  Lincoln,  Neb. 

Religious  Instruction  in  the  Public  Schools         .        .        .    429 

George  Ellsworth  Johnson. 

Class  of  1895 ;  Superintendent,  Pittsburg  Playground  Association. 

Religious  Education  in  the  Colleges 433, 

Rev.  Alfred  Tyler  Perry,  D.D. 

Class  of  1885;  Librarian  and  Professor,  1891-1900;  President  of  Mari- 
etta College. 

Religious  Literature 440 

Ernest  Cushing  Richardson,  Ph.D. 

Class  of  1883;   Librarian  and  Professor,  1883-90;   Trustee  since  1904; 
Librarian  of  Princeton  University. 

The  Religious  Press  in  America 447 

Rev.  William  Ellsworth  Strong. 

Class  of  1885;  Editorial  Secretary,  A.B.C.F.M.,  Boston,  Mass. 

Work  for  the  Deaf    .        .        .  " 45  r 

Abel  Stanton  Clark. 

Class  of  1870;    Professor,  American  School  for  the  Deaf,    Hartford, 
Conn. 

Work  for  the  Poor 456 

David  L  Green,  Ph.D. 

Superintendent,  Charity  Organization  Society,  Hartford,  Conn. 

Social  Settlements 462 

Albert  Rhys  Williams,  B.D. 

Class  of  1907 ;  Fellow,  1907 ;  Associate  Pastor,  Maverick  Congregational 
Church,  East  Boston,  Mass. 

Efforts  to  Promote  Temperance 466 

Rev.  Clarence  Howard  Barber. 

Class  of  1880 ;  Pastor,  Congregational  Church,  Danielson,  Conn. ;  Presi- 
dent, Connecticut  Temperance  Union. 

The  Betterment  of  Family  Life  in  America  ....    472 

Rev.  Samuel  Warren  Dike,  LL.D. 

Class  of  1866;   Secretary,  National  League  for  the  Protection  of  the 
Family,  Auburndaie,  Mass. 


CONTENTS  xiii 


PAGE 


Abatement  of  the  Social  Evil 477 

Rev.  Edmund  Alden  Burnham,  D.D. 

Class  of  1900 ;  Pastor,  Plymouth  Congregational  Church,  Syracuse,  N.Y. 

Penology  and  Child  Saving 483 

Rev.  Ernest  Royal  Latham. 

Class  of  1892;   Pastor,  Congregational  Church,  McPherson,  Kan. 


IX.     HOME   MISSIONS 

Theory  and  Method  of  Home  Missions 487 

Rev.  Henry  Hopkins  Kelsey. 

Class   of  1879;    Instructor,    1879-S2;    Pastor,   Fourth   Congregational 
Church,  Hartford,  Conn. 

Home  Missions  among  the  Freedmen 494 

Rev.  Myron  VV^inslow  Adams,  Ph.D. 

Class  of  1884;  Professor  and  Treasurer,  Atlanta  University,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Missions  in  the  West 501 

Rev.  William  Waterbury  Scudder. 

Class  of  1885  ;    Superintendent,  Congregational  Home  Missionary  So- 
ciety, Seattle,  Wash. 

Christian  Work  among  Immigrants 516 

Rev.  Herbert  Chandler  Ide,  M.A.,  B.D. 

Class  of  1901 ;  Pastor,  First  Congregational  Church,  Mount  Vernon,  N.Y. 


X.     FOREIGN    MISSIONS 

Theory  and  Method  of  Foreign  Missions        ....    522 
Rev.  James  Levi  Barton,  D.D. 

Class  of  1885  ;  Trustee  since  1898  ;  Corresponding  Secretary,  A.B.C.F.M., 
Boston,  Mass. 

Protestant  Missions  in  Austria 529 

Rev.  Albert  Warren  Clark,  D.D. 

Class  of  1868  ;  Missionary,  A.B.C.F.M.,  Prague,  Bohemia, 

Protestant  Missions  a.mong  the  Bulgarians    ....    536 

Rev.  William  Paine  Clarke. 

Class  of  1891 ;  Missionary,  A.B.C.F.M.,  Monastir,  Macedonia, 

Missions  in  Turkey 54^ 

Rev.  John  Ernest  Merrill,  Ph.D. 

Class  of  1896;   President,  Central  Turkey  College,  Aintab,  Turkey. 


xiv  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Missions  in  India 548 

Rev.  William  Hazen. 

Class  of  1897;  Missionary,  A.B.C.F.M.,  Sholapur,  India. 

Missions  in  Burma 557 

Rev.  Jesse  Fowler  Smith. 

Class  of  1899 ;  Missionary,  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union,  Ran- 
goon, Burma. 

Missions  in  China 561 

Rev.  William  Arnot  Mather,  B.D. 

Class  of  1899 ;  Fellow,  1899-1901 ;  Acting  Librarian,  1901-2 ;  Mission- 
ary, Presbyterian  Board,  Paotingfu,  North  China. 

Progress  of  Christianity  in  Japan 566 

Rev.  George  Miller  Rowland,  D.D. 

Class  of  1886;  Missionary,  A.B.C.F.M.,  Sapporo,  Japan. 

Missions  in  South  Africa 572 

Rev.  George  Albert  Wilder,  D.D. 

Class  of  1880;  Missionary,  A.B.C.F.M.,  Chikore,  Rhodesia. 

Missions  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands 578 

Rev.  Rowland  Backus  Dodge,  B.D. 

Class  of  1905  ;  Maui  Aid  Association,  Wailuku,  Maui,  T.H. 

Protestant  Missions  in  Mexico 582 

Rev.  John  Howland. 

Class  of  1882 ;  Missionary,  A.B.C.F.M.,  Guadalajara,  Mexico. 

Sociological  Results  of  Foreign  Missions      ....    585 
Edward  Warren  Capen,  Ph.D. 

Class  of  1898 ;  Fellow,  1898-1900 ;  Boston,  Mass. 


Index 


593 


RECENT   CHRISTIAN    PROGRESS 


I.    PRELIMINARY   STUDIES 


SEMITIC   PHILOLOGY 

Professor  Duncan  Black  Macdonald,  B.D. 

Hartford  Theological  Seminary 

In  mediasval  Europe  the  recognized  Semitic  languages  —  the 
word  "  Semitic  "  itself  was  not  invented  and  applied  until  1781  — 
were  practically  two,  Hebrew  and  Arabic ;  the  Aramaic  dialects 
of  the  Targums  and  the  Talmud  were  certainly  studied  by  Jews, 
but  only  faint  echoes  of  these  studies  reached  the  Christian  world. 
Ethiopic  was  living  but  undiscovered,  and  Assyrian  was  dead 
and  buried.  Further,  the  Christian  students  of  Hebrew  and 
Arabic  were,  except  as  regards  the  short  period  of  Frederick  II 
in  southern  Italy  and  Sicily,  isolated  individuals  working  to 
such  a  degree  under  Jewish  or  Muslim  guidance  and  influence 
that  they  were  rather  exponents  of  the  views  of  their  native 
teachers  than  students  of  the  languages  themselves.  Those  few 
who  went  further  followed  practical  objects,  as  Ramon  Lull, 
the  Catalan  missionary  in  the  thirteenth  century. 

Then  came  the  great  upheaval  of  the  Renaissance.  After  its 
Latin  and  its  Greek  waves  had  passed,  a  third  rolled  in,  the 
Semitic,  the  importance  and  definiteness  of  which  has  hardly 
yet  been  estimated.  It  fell  on  the  sixteenth  century,  although 
Jewish  scholars  had  made  use  of  the  printing  press  in  the  late 
fifteenth.  One  epoch  was  marked  by  the  Complutensian 
Polyglot;  another  by  the  Syriac  New  Testament  of  1555;  a 
third  by  the  Medicean  Press  at  Rome,  and  the  school  of  Arabic 
which  accompanied  it  from  the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  century 
onwards.  The  proposal  of  Ramon  Lull  that  Arabic  chairs 
should  be  founded  for  the  training  of  missionaries  had  evidently 
borne  little  fruit;  in  1532  Clenard  had  to  go  to  Spain,  rnd 
in  1540  to  Fez,  in  search  of  Arabic  instruction.  After  the 
Arabic  school  at  Rome  came,  before  many  years,  the  school  of 


2  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

Leyden  (early  seventeenth  century)  and  the  school  of  Oxford 
(middle  seventeenth  century). 

Until  within  the  last  century  Semitic  studies  have  been  largely 
dependent  on  the  abilities  and  inclinations  of  single  men.  When 
Martelotto  published  in  1620  at  Rome  his  Institutiones  lingucB 
arabiccE,  it  was  to  be  more  than  a  century  before  any  other 
grammar  of  a  Semitic  language  fit  to  stand  beside  it  should 
appear.  The  only  book  at  all  approaching  it  was  Ludolf's 
Grammatica  ethiopica,  a  second  edition  of  which  appeared  in 
1702.  Ludolf's  labors,  in  turn,  put  the  study  of  Ethiopic  on  a 
scientific  basis  reached  by  no  other  Semitic  tongue,  in  spite  of 
the  work  of  Erpen,  Buxtorf,  Castell,  Danz,  Michaelis,  Schaff, 
Schultens,  Reiske,  until  the  second  Semitic  renaissance  in  the 
early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  for  Ethiopic  itself 
unpassed  until  the  appearance  of  Dillmann's  grammar  in  1857. 
Nor  was  Martelotto's  grammar  really  antiquated  for  Arabic 
until  de  Sacy  published  the  second  edition  of  his  Grammaire 
arabe  in  1831. 

In  the  above  development  three  stages  of  grammatical  study 
can  be  traced.  All  these  languages  were  learned  in  the  first 
instance  at  the  lips  of  teachers  who  either  spoke  them  as  their 
mother- tongues  or  were  the  guardians  of  a  native  scholastic  tradi- 
tion. So  Reuchlin  and  his  fellows  learned  Hebrew  from  Jewish 
scholars,  so  wandering  Monophysite  and  Nestorian  monks 
taught  Syriac,  so  Pococke  studied  Arabic  at  Alexandretta,  and 
Ludolf  Ethiopic  with  an  Abyssinian  at  Rome.  In  the  case  of 
some  languages  this  influence  lasted,  though  indirectly,  very 
long;  the  English  Authorized  Version  is  deeply  in  debt  to  Qimhi, 
and  even  the  Revised  Version  often  merely  carries  on  the  tra- 
dition of  the  Synagogue.  The  second  stage  is  independent 
study  of  native  grammars  and  commentaries,  and  a  third  is 
direct  study  of  the  facts  of  the  language  itself  as  found  in  its 
literature.  These  last  two  stages  came  in  this  order,  but  were 
often  mixed  and  often  recurred.  In  the  case  of  Arabic,  with  its 
imposing  system  of  native  grammar  and  voluminous  philological 
literature,  the  second  stage,  as  was  but  natural,  lasted  very  long 
and  is  being  abandoned  only  in  our  own  time.  In  Hebrew  the 
influence  of  the  native  grammarian  had  already  passed  in  the 
seventeenth  century,  and  a  beginning  was  made  in  comparative 
Semitic  grammar  by  Albert  Schultens  with  his  Institutiones  in 


SEMITIC    PHILOLOGY  3 

1737,  though  the  dead  hand  of  rabbinic  exegesis  is  even  yet  still 
felt.  The  same  held  true  of  Syriac  grammar,  and  still  more  of 
Ethiopic  as  developed  by  Ludolf  on  the  basis  of  the  facts  of  the 
language. 

At  the  beginning  of  our  proper  period  —  roughly  the  begin- 
ning of  the  second  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century  —  the 
second  Semitic  renaissance  was  well  under  way.  In  Hebrew 
Gesenius's  Lehrgebdude  had  been  some  years  published  and  his 
Thesaurus  was  appearing;  Ewald's  Grammatik  and  Lee's 
Grammar  had  both  been  published  in  1827.  Of  the  three, 
Ewald  was  fairly  the  creative  mind  and  stated  the  still  accepted 
doctrine  of  Hebrew,  though  Lee  shows  the  effects  of  his  careful 
Arabic  studies,  for  good  where  he  anticipates  by  a  quarter- 
century  Fleischer's  exposition  of  the  principle  of  nominal  ap- 
position, and  for  evil  where  he  is  misled  by  the  ignorance  of 
the  Arabic  grammarians  as  to  the  real  force  of  their  own  verb 
forms.  Gesenius,  on  the  other  hand,  did  not  so  much  look  at  the 
phenomena  of  the  language  as  a  whole  and  show  the  living  de- 
velopment in  it  of  the  separate  forms,  as  did  Ewald,  but  rather 
worked  from  the  separate  forms  and  built  up  through  them  the 
language  and  its  laws.  In  Arabic  the  central  name  is  that  of 
de  Sacy,  whose  grammar  appeared  in  a  second  edition  in  1831, 
and  is  still,  when  combined  with  Fleischer's  notes,  our  fullest 
general  thesaurus,  although  Ewald's  (1827)  showed  keener 
independence  of  the  native  tradition,  while  his  influence  through 
his  pupils  was  and  is  towards  return  to  the  texts  themselves. 
In  Syriac  our  period  opened  with  Hoffmann's  grammar  in  1827 
and  Bernstein  and  Kirsch's  Chrestomathy  and  Lexicon  in  1832- 
36.  Both  were  a  long  advance  on  anything  that  had  pre- 
ceded and  prepared  the  way  for  the  study  of  the  mass  of  Syriac 
manuscripts  which  came  to  the  British  Museum  in  the  years 
from  1843  to  1847  s-iid  practically  recreated  Syriac  studies.  In 
Ethiopic,  apart  from  the  study  of  apocalyptic  literature  at  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  by  Lawrence  and  others, 
there  was,  practically,  no  advance  upon  Ludolf  until  the  gram- 
mar of  Dillmann  in  1857. 

The  development  which  followed  this  beginning  was  directed 
and  conditioned  by  the  effort  to  get  back  to  immediate  contact 
with  the  life  and  records  of  the  Semitic  peoples,  past  and  pres- 
ent.   The  scholastic  study  of  fixed  grammar  and  of  a  few 


4  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

accessible  texts,  and  the  tendency  to  regard  that  study  as  an 
end  in  itself,  broke  down  under  the  pressure  of  a  great  discov- 
ery, and  under  the  influence  of  the  great  awakening  due  to  the 
romantic  movement  in  Europe. 

The  discovery  was  the  restoration  to  upper  air  of  the  buried 
civilization  and  literature  of  Assyria-Babylonia,  lost  and  for- 
gotten for  some  twenty  centuries.  In  1820  the  site  of  Nineveh 
had  been  recognized  by  Rich;  but  it  was  not  until  1842  that 
serious  excavations  were  begun  there  by  Botta,  and  seven  years 
later  in  Babylonia  by  Rawlinson.  Meanwhile,  the  way  had  been 
prepared  for  the  deciphering  of  the  inscriptions  and  tablets  thus 
found  by  the  labors  of  Grotefend,  Burnouf,  Lassen,  and,  most 
of  all,  Rawlinson  on  the  three-languaged  rock-engravings  of 
Persepolis  and  Behistun.  The  grammatical  investigation  of 
the  new  language — now  called  Assyrian  —  followed  from  1849. 
Through  the  work  of  Rawlinson,  Hincks,  Norris,  Oppert, 
Schrader,  Delitzsch,  and  Haupt  its  grammar  and  lexicography 
were  put  upon  a  sound  basis,  and  Assyrian  texts  can  now  be  read 
with  at  least  the  certainty  attainable  for  Hebrew  or  Aramaic. 

Naturally,  the  first  tendency  was  to  regard  the  newly  dis- 
covered language  —  of  which  we  have  specimens  at  least  three 
thousand  years  older  than  those  in  any  other  Semitic  tongue  — 
as  of  an  overwhelming  importance,  and  as  at  once  taking  us 
into  the  presence  of  that  ignis  fatuus,  the  Mother-Semitic.  With 
time,  however,  it  has  been  recognized  that  while  Assyrian  is 
most  valuable  for  history,  for  religious  ritual,  and  for  lexicography, 
its  grammatical  structure  has  deviated  widely  from  the  broad 
Semitic  norm.  Itself,  apparently,  a  very  old  form  of  Aramaic, 
it  paid  the  same  penalty  for  wide  usage  and  mixture  of  race  as 
did  the  later  Aramaic,  and  was  deeply  affected  by  non-Semitic 
speech. 

But  other  less  direct  effects  have  perhaps  been  of  even  greater 
importance.  The  appearance  of  Assyrian  forced  the  study 
of  the  Semitic  languages  in  the  broad;  comparative  grammar 
found  new  materials  and  became  still  more  necessary.  We  have 
the  development  stretching  from  Renan's  Histoire  des  langues 
semitiques  in  1855  to  Brockelmann's  Vergleichende  Gram- 
niatik,  now  appearing.  But  Assyrian  also  fostered  archaeology, 
and  it,  as  a  study  of  life  and  its  records  in  the  past,  led  naturally 
to  renewed  interest  in  the  life,  languages,  and  literatures  of  the 


SEMITIC    PHILOLOGY  5 

Semitic  peoples  in  the  present.  On  another  side  this  had  been 
long  preparing.  The  romantic  movement,  beginning  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  had  drawn  attention  again 
to  the  roots  of  all  literature  and  expression  as  existing  unchang- 
ingly in  the  masses  of  the  peoples  themselves.  So,  especially, 
Herder  for  the  literature  of  the  Hebrews  and  Riickert  for  Oriental 
literature  in  general.  Thus  the  way  was  prepared  to  seek  in  the 
present-day  East  the  explanation  of  the  ancient  East.  Philo- 
logically,  this  resulted  in  the  study  of  the  living  dialects,  and 
in  a  strong  reaction  of  that  study  upon  comparative  Semitic. 
So,  even  after  it  had  become  plain  that  Assyrian  would  not  lead 
directly  to  the  primitive  Semitic,  its  influence  was  indirectly 
felt  in  this  general  awakening.  Arabic  had  already  regained 
its  old  primacy,  and  the  school  of  Fleischer,  continuing  the 
tradition  of  de  Sacy,  had  labored  most  fruitfully  over  the 
classical  language  and  the  native  grammarians,  lexicographers, 
and  commentators.  But  the  turn  of  the  living  tongues  had  come, 
and  now  it  may  be  said  broadly  that  our  knowledge  of  Semitics 
is  being  made  over  in  the  light  of  their  phenomena,  even  as  the 
old  literatures  and  life  are  being  explained  through  the  ideas 
and  emotions  of  the  present-day  East. 

Details  as  to  this  study  of  dialects  cannot  be  given;  thus  much 
must  suffice.  When  Noldeke  wrote  his  sketch  on  the  Semitic 
languages  in  1887,  of  the  modern  dialects  of  Arabic  only  the 
Egyptian  was  really  known.  Our  knowledge  of  Egyptian  x'\rabic 
has  since  much  advanced,  and  the  entire  field  of  the  rest  of  the 
Arabic-speaking  world  —  thanks  mostly  to  Stumme  —  is  now 
fairly  known,  though  some  parts  of  Arabia  and  northern  Syria 
still  hold  their  secrets.  The  circumscribed  world  of  living  Ara- 
maic has  also  been  at  least  worked  over.  In  the  most  recent 
years,  the  daughter  and  cousin  dialects  of  Ethiopic  have  been 
investigated.  All  have  contributed  their  part  to  break  up  the 
schematic  rigidity  of  scholastic  Semitic,  and  to  show  the  pos- 
sibilities always  latent  in  a  living  tongue. 

This  has  been  accompanied  by  a  renewed  attempt  to  study  the 
languages  on  the  basis  of  the  texts  themselves  —  peculiarly  the 
method  of  Ewald.  For  Arabic,  then,  the  revolt  from  simple 
study  of  the  native  grammarians  has  been  naturally  led  by 
descendants  of  his  school,  conspicuously  Noldeke  and  Rcckcn- 
dorff.     For    Assyrian    no    other    method    was    possible.     For 


6  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

Aramaic,  once  the  stage  of  personal  guidance  by  teachers  in 
possession  of  the  scholastic  tradition  was  passed,  students  had 
been  almost  entirely  thrown  back  upon  the  texts  alone,  and,  for 
the  most  part,  had  read  these  with  little  thought  of  grammar, 
and  —  as  they  were  mostly  Biblical  —  little  need  of  lexicography. 
With  Bernstein  the  tide  had  turned,  as  noticed  above,  and 
Noldeke  and  Duval  especially,  mostly  following  the  texts,  have 
reduced  the  feeble  and  chaotic  grammar  of  Aramaic  to  some 
order.  Only  an  allusion  is  here  in  place  to  the  influence  of 
this  upon  New  Testament  studies.  As  for  Ethiopic,  Ludolf  (see 
above)  began  from  the  texts,  and  the  interest  has  always  remained 
in  the  texts.  This  interest  has  been  largely  increased  during 
the  last  twenty  years  by  the  renewed  study  of  Jewish  apocry- 
phal and  apocalyptic  literature  in  its  immediately  pre-Christian 
forms.  As  a  consequence  it  is  probable  that  some  scholars  now 
know  Ethiopic  better  than  Dillmann  did  in  his  time,  but  his 
statement  of  grammar  and  lexicography,  except  for  small  con- 
tributions, is  still  untouched.     Hebrew  will  be  dealt  with  below. 

In  the  linking  of  the  past  with  the  present,  and  in  the  study  of 
archaeology  in  general,  inscriptions  naturally  play  a  large  part. 
But  in  Semitic  their  philological  interest  had  not  until  recently 
been  great.  The  masses  of  so-called  Phoenician  inscriptions 
had  little  effect,  as  they  were  then  treated,  upon  the  linguistic 
ideas  of  the  time,  and  even  the  Moabite  Stone  and  the  Siloam 
Inscription  did  not  contribute  much.  But  more  recently  in- 
scriptions from  the  Hijaz  and  the  Sinai  peninsula,  from  Safa  and 
Zenjirli,  from  Palmyra  and  Yemen,  have  been  so  abundant  and 
have  been  treated  so  fruitfully  that  their  witness  is  no  longer  an 
almost  negligible  quantity  for  comparative  Semitic.  And  what 
may  yet  come  from  those  of  Yemen  for  proto-Arabic  and  the 
place  of  Arabic  in  the  Semitic  family  cannot  easily  be  estimated. 

Another  side  of  the  humanizing  of  Semitic  has  been  the  appli- 
cation to  it  of  phonetics  and  the  endeavor  to  discover  its  laws 
of  rhythm  and  forms  of  verse.  The  endeavor  is  evidently  still 
in  an  infancy  of  vain  hypotheses,  affording  no  certain  results 
for  either  texts  or  grammar.  But  the  application  of  the  science 
of  phonetics  has  already  proved  most  useful  in  detail,  and  per- 
haps still  more  in  the  broad,  as  emphasizing  the  fact  that  phi- 
lology should  not  be  allowed  entirely  to  obscure  linguistics ;  that 
languages  were  tongues  before  they  were  systems  of  written 


SEMITIC    PHILOLOGY  7 

signs.  How  important  such  considerations  may  in  the  end  be- 
come is  shown  by  Vollers's  hypothesis  of  the  type  of  language 
originally  used  by  Muhammad  in  the  Qur'an.  His  investiga- 
tions would  have  been  impossible  without  the  combination  of 
classical  scholarship  with  a  knowledge  of  phonetics  and  of  the 
modern  dialects. 

In  view  of  the  place  of  this  sketch  in  a  festival  volume  issued 
by  a  school  of  theology,  it  is  natural  to  treat  Hebrew  here  apart 
and  finally.  As  noticed  above,  the  period  opens  with  Gesenius, 
Ewald,  and  Lee  —  Gesenius,  an  empirical  recorder  of  the  facts 
of  the  language;  Ewald,  a  philosophical  investigator  of  its  prin- 
ciples; and  Lee,  a  student  of  native  Arabic  grammar  and  an 
applier  of  its  principles  to  Hebrew.  The  drift  which  followed 
was  conditioned  by  a  growing  sense  of  the  need  of  grammatical 
precision  and  by  a  turning  for  guidance  in  that  to  the  dominant 
Arabic  school  of  de  Sacy  and  Fleischer.  Thus,  Olshausen 
(Lehrbuchy  1861)  is  so  completely  under  the  Arabic  influence 
that  when  he  endeavors  to  find  his  way  back  to  the  proto-Hebrew 
forms  lying  behind  those  of  the  Hebrew  of  the  Old  Testament 
he  looks  for  them  throughout  in  Arabic.  In  this  he  carried  on 
the  method  of  Albert  Schultens  and  practically  regarded  Arabic 
as  primitive  Semitic.  Ewald's  criticism  was  sharp  but  true; 
Olshausen  fell  into  such  an  error  simply  because  he  did  not  know 
Ethiopic,  and  thus  did  not  recognize  what  development  Arabic 
itself  had  gone  through.  Bottcher,  on  the  other  hand,  would 
have  naught  of  anything  but  Hebrew  itself,  and  in  his  enormous 
Lehrbuch,  published  after  his  death  in  1866-68,  tried  to  gather 
up  in  one  corpus  all  the  facts  of  the  language.  On  these  diver- 
gent tendencies  a  series  of  compromises  have  followed.  Stade 
in  his  grammar  (1879)  endeavored  to  combine  Ewald  and 
Olshausen;  practically  he  recognized  that  Olshausen's  extreme 
Arabism  was  untenable,  but  still  maintained  that  the  forms  of 
the  hypothetical  proto-Hebrew  should  be  made  the  basis  of  the 
accidence.  In  his  lexicon  (with  Siegfried,  1893)  a  more  objec- 
tive method  was  followed.  Finally,  Konig  in  his  Lehrgebaude 
(1881-97)  endeavors  to  do  justice  to  all  these  tendencies  and 
has  certainly  produced  a  thesaurus  most  useful  for  reference. 

In  this  development  there  has  been  a  comparative  neglect  of 
syntax ;  the  grammar  neither  of  Olshausen  nor  of  Stade  was  com- 
pleted.    Also  with  elaborate  study  of  Hebrew  forms  there  has 


8  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

gone  a  curious  clinging  to  traditional  and  impossible  translations. 
Only  within  the  last  few  years  have  the  first  verses  of  Genesis 
been  translated  as  grammar  requires,  and  the  English  and 
American  Revised  Versions  are  still  full  of  rabbinic  exegesis. 
It  is  possible  to  explain  this  by  the  influence  of  Arabic  acci- 
dence on  the  one  hand,  and  the  neglect  of  Arabic  syntax 
on  the  other.  It  is  certain  that  those  Hebraists  who  really  at- 
tained to  a  knowledge  of  Arabic  syntax  profited  by  it  indefinitely, 
and  that  the  most  thorough  translations  of  the  Old  Testament 
have  come  from  all-round  Semitic  scholars,  rather  than  from  pro- 
fessional theologians.  After  Ewald,  August  Miiller's  Syntax  is 
the  most  luminous  contribution,  and  Driver's  Hebrew  Tenses 
owes  much  of  its  value  to  his  wide  philological  training.  Thus, 
too,  in  the  earlier  part  of  our  period  the  contributions  of  Fleischer 
were  of  the  first  value,  and  in  the  latter  those  of  Noldeke. 

At  present  a  pause  seems  to  have  entered  in  directly  philo- 
logical Hebrew  studies,  the  pause  of  the  gathering  of  material 
for  a  new  adventure.  The  new  English  Gesenius  (1901-06) 
summed  the  lexicographical  results  of  our  period ;  but  the  gram- 
matical are  not  yet  worked  out.  Meanwhile  text,  exegesis, 
meter  and  rhythm,  history,  archaeology,  hold  the  field.  But 
a  sense  for  the  grammatical  imperative  of  accuracy  is  plainly 
growing,  and  a  recognition  of  the  width  of  the  sources  on  which 
Hebrew  grammar  must,  in  the  future,  draw. 

For  Semitic  in  the  broad  the  future  lies,  on  the  one  side,  in  an 
investigation,  first,  of  its  relation  to  Egyptian  and  the  African 
languages,  and  secondly,  of  the  proto-Arabic  of  South  Arabia. 
Thus,  and  only  thus,  may  we  hope  to  move  the  problem  of  the 
origin  and  early  history  of  the  Semitic  languages  back  another 
step.  It  lies,  on  another  side,  in  the  study  of  themodern  dialects. 
To  that  our  recognition  of  unity  and  continuity  has  brought  us. 
Even  for  Hebrew,  the  living  dialects  have  value.  Forms  and 
idioms  of  the  Old  Testament  which  are  too  often  considered 
corruptions  can  be  paralleled  in  the  Arabic  of  to-day. 


ORIENTAL   ARCHEOLOGY 

William  Hoyt  Worrell,  Ph.D. 

University  of  Michigan 

To  write  the  history  of  exploration,  excavation,  and  decipher- 
ment in  the  western  Orient  during  the  last  seventy-five  years, 
is  almost  to  write  the  entire  history  of  the  subject.  To  estimate 
the  effect  of  such  investigation  upon  theological  studies,  is  a 
task  of  great  c'omplexity,  and  need  not  here  concern  us.  The 
following  brief  account  can  be  no  more  than  a  modest  chronicle 
of  achievement,  in  a  department  of  investigation  which  should 
not  be  forgotten  in  a  volume  devoted  to  progress  in  theological 
studies. 

I.  Babylonia  and  Assyria.  —  In  point  of  extent,  as  well  as 
of  significance,  by  far  the  most  important  are  the  discoveries 
made  in  Babylonia  and  Assyria.  Till  the  beginning  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  Nineveh  and  Babylon  were  known  to  the 
West  only  through  the  Old  Testament  writings,  the  works  of 
Greek  and  Latin  authors,  and  the  tales  of  travelers,  by  whom, 
in  general,  Nineveh  was  identified  with  the  two  mounds  Kuyun- 
jik  and  Nebi  Yunus  opposite  to  Mosul,  and  Babylon,  with  the 
mounds  about  Hilla.  The  sum  total  of  knowledge  from  all 
these  sources  was  meager  and  unreliable.  At  present  we  possess 
thousands  of  clay  tablets,  comprising  a  vast  and  varied  literature, 
besides  monuments  and  other  remains,  which  have  rendered 
possible  to  a  large  extent  a  reconstruction  of  the  civilization  and 
history  of  two  great  empires,  and  have  transferred  Israel  and 
the  Bible  from  a  unique  position  on  the  very  horizon  of  history 
to  a  subordinate  place  among  the  peoples  and  literatures  of  a 
vast  unified  civilization,  the  Ancient  Orient.  We  know  now 
that  neither  Hebrews  in  Canaan,  nor  Arab  nomads  in  the  desert, 
were  free  from  the  influence  of  the  civilization  of  this  world- 
empire.  The  older  theoretical,  philological  conceptions  have 
given  way  to  historical  ones.     Semitic  has  become  a  linguistic 

9 


TO  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

term.  Language  is  to  some  extent  an  index  of  racial  affinity, 
and  racial  psychic  characteristics  make  themselves  felt  ;  but 
in  the  Ancient  Orient,  as  in  the  Hellenistic  Graeco-Roman 
Orient,  the  linguistic  and  ethnic  boundaries  were  no  barrier  to 
the  leveling  influences  of  an  all-embracing  civilization. 

Not  only  during  the  Exile,  but  from  earliest  times,  the  Hebrews 
were  under  the  spell  of  Babylonian  forms  of  thought  and  Baby- 
lonian lore.  The  Tell-el-Amarna  letters  show  us  the  thorough 
babylonization  of  Canaan,  and  a  high  degree  of  unification  of 
civilization  in  the  western  Orient  in  the  fifteenth  century  B.C. 
The  legends  of  Creation  and  the  Deluge  can  no  longer  be  re- 
garded as  a  unique  revelation  of  historical  fact  to  a  particular 
people,  but  only  as  an  adaptation  of  episodes  in  the  mythology 
current  in  a  greater  world,  in  a  corner  of  which  Israel  lived 
a  life  of  comparative  insignificance.  Not  even  the  "Mosaic" 
laws  are  unique;  for,  with  whatever  decided  differences,  they 
appear  from  the  Code  of  Hammurabi  —  itself  only  one  formu- 
lation of  the  customary  law  of  the  East  —  to  have  grown,  like 
the  legislation  of  all  peoples  living  in  the  world,  and  not  independ- 
ent of  the  workings  of  natural  causes,  out  of  this  natural  world 
about  them.  The  rearrangement  of  documents  within  the  Old 
Testament,  and  the  recovery  of  historical  documents  from  with- 
out, have  made  it  possible  to  think  historically  about  the  Old 
Testament,  and  have  removed  its  once  unique  historical  unin- 
telligibility.  In  particular,  the  period  of  the  greatest  importance 
and  of  our  greatest  interest  in  Israelitish  history,  the  eighth, 
seventh,  and  sixth  centuries,  are  brilliantly  illuminated  ;  and 
chronology  has  been  completely  revolutionized,  and  put  upon  a 
firm  basis,  extending  back,  with  more  or'less  certainty,  into  the 
fourth  millennium  B.C. 

Hebrew,  in  spite  of  its  inferiority  to  the  later  Arabic,  once 
thought  to  be  the  language  of  our  first  parents,  now  appears  to 
have  borrowed  many  of  its  common  and  essential  words  from  the 
Babylonian.  In  spite  of  the  vagaries  of  speculative  comparative 
mythology,  and  the  at  times  extravagant  claims  of  Assyriologists, 
it  is  the  permanent  and  positive  service  of  Assyriology  to  students 
of  the  Old  Testament  to  have  rediscovered  this  Ancient  World, 
and  to  have  assigned  the  Hebrews  and  their  writings  their 
proper  place  therein. 

These  great  changes  have  come  about  through  the  investiga- 


ORIENTAL   ARCHAEOLOGY 


II 


tions  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and,  but  for  a  small  beginning, 
within  the  last  seventy-Jive  years.  In  1811  Claudius  Rich,  rep- 
resenting the  East  India  Company  at  Bagdad,  made  surveys 
and  drawings  of  the  scattered  ruins  about  the  ancient  sites  of 
Nineveh  and  Babylon.  Four  other  names  are  to  be  mentioned 
as  belonging  to  this  earliest  period  of  exploration:  Buckingham, 
1816;  Porter,  1817-20;  Mignan,  1826-28;  Frazer,  1834-35. 
February,  1835,  witnessed  the  departure  from  Liverpool  of  Col- 
onel Francis  R.  Chesney,  with  a  government  expedition,  commis- 
sioned to  explore  and  survey  the  valleys  of  the  Tigris  and  the 
Euphrates.  The  result  was  a  collection  of  valuable  surveys. 
In  1846  James  Felix  Jones  explored  the  Tigris  from  Bagdad  to 
Tekrit,  and  in  1848-50  the  country  east  of  the  river,  correcting 
the  maps  of  Rich.  In  1852-55  he  surveyed  with  Hyslop  the 
Assyrian  ruins;  and,  with  Hyslop  and  Lynch,  the  country  about 
Babylon.  In  1861-65  Selbey,  Collingwood,  and  Bewshire 
made  accurate  maps  of  Babylonia  and  the  country  west  of  the 
Euphrates. 

Excavation  began  in  1842,  when  Paul  E.  Botta,  French  consul 
at  Mosul,  examined  Kuyunjik  and  Nebi  Yunus.  In  1843  he 
began  in  earnest  excavations  at  Khorsabad,  and  with  the  assis- 
tance of  Flandin,  an  artist,  unearthed  and  published  the  re- 
markable and  valuable  collection  of  antiquities  which  forms  the 
basis  of  the  collection  in  the  Louvre.  His  successor  as  consul, 
Victor  Place,  continued  in  1851-55  the  excavations  at  Khorsabad, 
making  a  plan  of  the  palace  of  Sargon  II,  the  conqueror  of 
Samaria  (722).  His  large  collection  of  tablets  and  valuable  an- 
tiquities, together  with  the  finds  of  another  French  expedition 
(that  of  Fresnel,  Oppert,  and  Thomas,  185 1,  at  Birs  Nimrud  and 
Hilla),  and  still  others  from  Kuyunjik,  were  lost  from  a  transport 
raft  in  1855,  and  have  never  been  recovered  from  the  muddy 
bed  of  the  Tigris. 

The  year  1840  marks  the  beginning  of  English  excavation. 
Austen  Henry  Layard,  returning  from  Hamadan  (Ecbatana), 
where  he  had  halted  on  a  journey  which  he  had  undertaken  to 
Ceylon,  examined  in  that  year  the  mounds  of  Kuyunjik  and 
Nebi  Yunus,  the  site  of  ancient  Nineveh,  and  the  mound  Nimrud, 
the  ancient  Calah.^  Two  years  later  he  received  aid  through 
the   British   ambassador   at   Constantinople  and   returned   to 

»  Cf.  Gen.  10". 


12  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

Nimrud,  Again  in  1846  he  resumed  work,  and  discovered^ 
among  other  things,  the  palace  of  Shalmaneser  I  with  its  winged 
bulls.  To  follow  his  brilliant  career  would  exceed  the  space 
here  allowed.  Assisted  by  an  anglicized  native,  Hormuzd 
Rassam,  he  discovered  the  famous  "Black  Obelisk  of  Shal- 
maneser" 11,^  a  number  of  alabaster  bas-reliefs,  and  many  of 
the  now  most  treasured  possessions  of  the  British  Museum.^ 
He  excavated  at  Kalah  Shergat,  the  ancient  Assur,  the  first 
capital  of  the  Assyrians,  and  at  Kuyunjik.  Again,  in  1849, 
with  Rassam,  Cooper,  and  Sandwich,  he  excavated  at  Nebi 
Yunus  and  Kuyunjik.  At  the  latter  place  he  discovered  the 
palace  of  Sennacherib,  with  the  celebrated  bas-relief  and  in- 
scription: "Sennacherib,  King  of  the  World,  King  of  Assyria, 
sat  upon  a  throne  and  reviewed  the  spoil  of  the  city  of  Lachish."  ' 

In  1850  William  K.  Loftus,  geologist  of  the  staff  of  Colonel 
W.  F.  Williams,  employed  in  surveying  the  Turko-Persian  fron- 
tier, excavated  at  Warka,*  and  visited  the  sites  of  the  most 
ancient  Babylonian  cities  in  the  south,  notably  Mugheir  ^  and 
Niffer.  He  furnished  accurate  descriptions  and  located  the 
sites  with  precision.  Under  the  direction  of  Sir  Henry  Rawlin- 
son,  British  consul  at  Bagdad,  Loftus  proceeded  to  excavate 
in  the  south;  and  J.  E.  Taylor,  British  vice-consul  in  Bosra, 
to  examine  Mugheir,  Abu  Shahrein,  and  Tell-el-Lahm.  At 
Mugheir  four  memorial  cylinders  were  taken  from  the  corners 
of  the  ruin. 

In  1852  Rassam,  setting  out  with  new  funds,  under  Rawlin- 
son's  direction,  excavated  again  at  Kuyunjik,  and  discovered 
the  palace  of  Assurbanipal,  including  the  bas-reliefs  now  in 
the  British  Museum,  and  —  most  important  of  all  —  the  vast 
collection  of  tablets  belonging  to  the  royal  library  of  Assur- 
banipal, which  has  been  of  incalculable  value  to  Assyriologists. 
At  Rassam's  departure  his  work  at  Kuyunjik  was  taken  up  by 
Loftus,  1854.  In  the  same  year  Rawlinson  found  at  Birs  Nim- 
rud two  cylinders  of  Nebuchadnezzar. 

'  Containing  twenty  reliefs,  among  others,  one  with  the  inscription:  "The 
tribute  of  Jehu  the  son  of  Omri,  I  received  .  .  ." 

^  From  the  palaces  of  Essarhaddon  (II  K.  19"),  Assurnazirpal,  and  Shal- 
maneser. 

^  Cf.  II  K.  i8"'-;    198;   Is.  36«-, 

*  The  ancient  Erech  or  Uruk. 

^  Variously  spelled,  but  equivalent  to  the  classical  Arabic  form  al-Muqdyyar, 
i.e.  "the  Pitched  (Walls)."     It  is  identified  with  the  ancient  city  of  Ur. 


ORIENTAL   ARCHEOLOGY  13 

During  the  pause  which  now  came  in  the  work  of  excavation 
the  less  dangerous  but  no  less  difficult  work  of  decipherment 
went  on.  Georg  Friedrich  Grotefend  had  in  1802,  by  sheer 
ingenuity,  succeeded  in  deciphering  two  Old  Persian  inscrip- 
tions brought  by  Niebuhr  from  Persepolis,  thus  furnishing  the 
values  of  many  letters  of  the  language  standing  in  the  first 
column  of  the  trilingual  inscriptions.  About  1835  Sir  Henry 
Rawlinson  {vide  supra),  a  British  officer  in  Persia,  reached 
quite  independently,  and  by  similar  means,  successful  results. 
He  copied  the  great  trilingual  inscription  of  Behistun,  at  the 
peril  of  his  life,  and  after  many  delays,  partly  of  an  official 
nature,  but  partly  in  order  that  he  might  acquaint  himself  with 
every  possible  source  bearing  upon  his  work,  he  published  in 
1846  the  results  of  his  investigation:  an  almost  complete  trans- 
lation of  the  Persian  portion  of  the  inscription. 

It  remained  now  to  decipher  the  language  of  the  second  and 
third  columns  of  the  trilingual  inscriptions.  This  last,  which 
alone  need  detain  us  here,  recognized  by  Lowenstern  in  1845 
as  a  Semitic  idiom,  was  the  language  of  the  hundreds  of  tablets 
which  had  been  found  in  the  mounds  of  Babylonia  and  Assyria, 
the  so-called  Semitic  Assyro-Babylonian.  The  solution  of  this 
linguistic  riddle,  perhaps  one  of  the  greatest  triumphs  of  human 
ingenuity,  must  be  dismissed,  however  undeservedly,  with  the 
mention  of  four  illustrious  names:  those  of  the  Rev.  Edward 
Hincks,  Sir  Henry  Rawlinson,  Edwin  Norris,  and  George  Smith. 
Hincks  reached  his  remarkable  results  largely  through  analy- 
sis of  grammatical  forms.  Rawlinson  published  in  1851,  with 
notes,  the  third  column  of  the  Behistun  inscription;  and  in 
i860,  with  the  help  of  Norris  and  Smith,  he  began  the  publica- 
tion of  the  great  corpus,  The  Cuneiform  Inscriptions  of  West- 
ern Asia.  Assyro-Babylonian,  the  language  of  the  monuments 
and  clay  tablets,  had  been  deciphered.  Other  problems  re- 
mained, such  as  that  of  the  "Sumerian"  language,  found  alone, 
and  also  in  combination  with  Semitic  Babylonian,  particularly 
in  religious  texts,  and  believed  for  that  reason  to  be  the  priestly 
language,  and  the  speech  of  the  earliest  inhabitants  of  the  land; 
but  the  greatest  task  had  been  accomplished,  and  the  result 
furnished  the  key  to  the  rest. 

Convinced  by  such  results  of  the  value  of  further  excavation, 
the  people  of  England  came  to  the  aid  of  the  cause,  and  another 


14  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

period  of  activity  began.  George  Smith  {vide  supra),  an  en- 
graver, employed  to  arrange  the  tablets  in  the  British  Museum, 
aroused  England  with  the  announcement  of  his  discovery  of  a 
tablet  containing  a  parallel  to  the  Deluge  Legend  of  Genesis, 
and  was  sent  to  Nineveh  to  excavate  for  further  fragments  of 
the  legend,  and  for  such  other  material  as  should  confirm  the 
Biblical  account.  The  Daily  Telegraph  offered  i,ooo  guineas 
for  his  support,  on  the  condition  that  the  results  of  his  discoveries 
should  be  published  through  communications  to  the  paper. 
Early  in  1873  Smith  went  to  Mosul,  and  after  some  work  at 
Nimrud,  found  on  May  14  at  Kuyunjik  a  new  fragment  of  the 
Deluge  Legend,  and  later  two  other  fragments.  The  historical 
inscriptions  which  he  found,  and  hoped  to  find,  did  not  at  the 
time  interest  apologists  or  advertisers.  He  returned  June  9. 
In  1874  Smith  made  a  second  short  expedition,  and  in  1876  a 
third,  for  the  British  Museum.    He  died  at  Aleppo,  Aug.  19, 1876. 

The  French  consul  at  Bosra,  Ernest  de  Sarzec,  worked  sys- 
tematically in  1877-78  and  1880-81  at  Tello  in  southern  Baby- 
lonia, the  site  of  the  ancient  city  of  Lagash.  In  these  and  many 
subsequent  campaigns,  he  uncovered  a  most  valuable  collection 
of  antiquities  of  the  earliest  period,  representing  Babylonian  art 
of  an  age  as  remote  as  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  millennium 
B.C.,  and  containing  many  valuable  historical  documents. 

The  year  1888  witnessed  one  of  the  most  remarkable  dis- 
coveries in  the  history  of  Assyriology.  A  peasant  woman  found, 
at  Tell-el-Amarna  in  Egypt,  a  jar  containing  a  large  collection 
of  tablets,  nearly  all  in  the  Babylonian  language,  and  repre- 
senting the  correspondence  of  the  Pharaohs  Amenophis  III  and 
IV  with  their  Canaanitish  vassals,  and  with  the  kings  of  Baby- 
lonia, Assyria,  Mitani,  and  the  land  of  the  Hittites, 

In  1884  America  entered  the  arena  of  exploration  and  excava- 
tion. A  conference  held  at  the  meeting  of  the  American  Oriental 
Society  and  the  Society  of  Biblical  Literature  and  Exegesis  re- 
sulted finally  in  the  organization  of  an  exploring  party  known 
as  the  "Wolfe  Expedition,"  consisting  of  Dr.  William  Hayes 
Ward,  Mr.  J.  H.  Haynes,  and  Dr.  J.  R.  Sterrett,  which  left 
New  York  Sept.  6  of  the  same  year,  to  explore  Babylonia  for 
a  suitable  site  for  excavation.  Returning  in  1885,  Dr.  Ward 
recommended  Anbar,  or  Niffer.^    Through  the  efforts  of  Dr. 

'  Also  pronounced  Nuffar,  and  identical  with  the  ancient  Nippur. 


ORIENTAL   ARCHAEOLOGY  15 

John  P.  Peters,  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  on  June  23, 
1888,  sent  an  expedition,  composed  of  the  following  members: 
Director,  Dr.  Peters;  Assyriologists,  Professor  Herman  V.  Hil- 
precht  and  Professor  Robert  F.  Harper;  Architect,  Mr.  P.  H. 
Field;  Manager,  Mr.  J,  H.  Haynes.  On  Feb.  6,  1889,  excava- 
tion was  begun  at  Niffer.  The  finds  included  some  2,000  tab- 
lets and  fragments  of  tablets,  vases,  Hebrew  bowls,  seals  and 
weights,  terra  cotta  and  other  objects,  and  implements.  The 
following  year  some  8,000  more  tablets  were  found.  The  first 
continuous  excavation  ever  conducted  stands  to  the  credit  of 
Haynes,  who,  from  April  11,  1893,  to  Feb.  15,  1896,  directed 
the  next  expedition.  About  21,000  tablets  were  found.  Again 
in  February,  1899,  excavations  were  begun  under  Haynes  as 
manager.  In  January,  1900,  Professor  Hilprecht  took  charge 
as  director.  He  is  said  to  have  discovered  a  series  of  rooms 
"which  furnished  not  less  than  sixteen  thousand  cuneiform 
documents,  forming  part  of  the  temple  library."  The  Ameri- 
can excavation  work  under  Hilprecht  has  been  placed  upon 
a  permanent  foundation  and  is  yielding  valuable  results,  as 
have  also  the  American  excavations  at  Bismaya  and  Senkere. 

Turkish  digging  has  been  carried  on  under  Hamdy  Bey  at 
Sippar  and  elsewhere,  notably  in  1894,  in  company  with 
Father  Scheil. 

In  1897  Germany  entered  the  field  with  the  exploring  expedi- 
tion of  Sachau  and  Koldewey.  In  1898  the  Deutsche  Orient- 
Gesellschafi  was  founded  and  the  first  expedition  for  excavation 
was  sent  out  under  Koldewey  and  Meissner,  the  latter  subse- 
quently succeeded  by  Lindl.  In  the  spring  of  1899  work  was 
begun  on  the  palace  of  Nebuchadnezzar  at  Babylon.  It  now 
rests  upon  a  permanent  basis,  being  supported  by  the  German 
Emperor.  The  expedition  has  uncovered  the  ancient  "street 
of  the  procession"  and  the  temple  of  Babylon,  Esagila. 

The  most  important  find  ever  made  in  the  land  of  the  Tigris 
and  Euphrates  was  the  Code  of  Hammurabi.  In  1897  M.  J. 
de  Morgan  was  appointed  by  the  French  government  to  excavate 
in  Susa,  where  in  1901-02  he  found  a  stele  of  black  diorite 
2.25  m.  high,  bearing  a  long  inscription.  It  proved  to  be  a 
trophy  carried  off  by  the  Elamites  from  Babylonia  (prob.ibly 
from  the  city  of  Sippar),  containing  the  original  of  the  Code, 
long  before  postulated  by  Delitzsch  and  Meissner,  promulgated 


i6  RECENT    CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

by  the  great  king  Hammurabi,  the  sixth  ruler  of  the  first  dynasty 
of  Babylon  (c.  2250  or  later),  whose  name,  perhaps,  is  still  re- 
membered in  the  legend  of  Gen.  14.  The  stele  had  lost  about 
five  columns  of  the  original  forty-nine  (=c.  8,000  words).  Ham- 
murabi was  a  benevolent  and  energetic  ruler,  who  united  and 
restored  his  country,  materially,  politically,  and  economically. 
His  Code,  probably  merely  a  collection  of  current  laws,  contains 
a  vast  number  of  criminal  and  civil  statutes,  many  of  which  are 
similar,  a  few  even  to  the  degree  of  verbal  agreement,  to  the 
laws  of  Moses,  which  they  antedate  by  1,000  to  1,700  years. 
Both  of  these  collections  are  probably  merely  representative 
of  the  common  stock  of  laws  current  throughout  the  Ancient 
Orient. 

2.  The  Hittites.  —  This  people  once  forgotten,  except  for 
their  mention  in  the  Bible,  have  been  restored  to  their  place  in 
history.  We  cannot  here  follow  the  story  of  discovery  and  the 
as  yet  unsuccessful  attempts  at  decipherment.  Let  it  suffice  to 
say  that  this  people  is  now  known  from  repeated  mention  in 
the  Babylonian  and  Assyrian  records  and  in  those  of  Egypt. 
Their  inscriptions,  scattered  over  Asia  Minor,  Syria,  and  Assyria, 
date  from  1000  to  600  B.C.  Winckler's  discovery  in  1906,  at 
Bogaz  Koi,  the  ancient  capital,  Hatti,  of  the  Hittites,  of  2,500 
tablets,  partly  Babylonian,  and  partly  of  another  speech  in 
cuneiform  characters,  known  from  the  Tell-el-Amarna  tablets, 
and  supposed  to  be  Hittite,  promises  the  ultimate  solution  of 
the  linguistic  problem. 

3.  Palestine.  —  Palestine  has  afforded  very  little  archaeolog- 
ical material  in  comparison  with  Babylonia  and  Assyria.  Since 
the  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  systematic  surveying 
has  been  carried  on,  and  much  of  the  topography  of  the  land 
has  been  settled.  Zion  has  been  proved  to  be  the  eastern  hill 
of  Jerusalem  upon  which  stood,  in  successive  descent,  the 
Temple  and  Palace  of  Solomon,  and  the  ancient  city,  Jebus. 
The  south  wall  of  Jerusalem  has  been  located,  but  doubt  still 
exists  as  to  the  position  of  the  second  and  third  walls  on  the 
north.     The  chief  results  are  thus  topographical. 

In  1880,  however,  one  valuable  monument  was  found:  the 
Siloam  Inscription.  Some  boys,  playing  in  the  old  conduit 
which  leads  from  the  spring  Gihon  to  the  Pool  of  Siloam,  having 
made  the  discovery,  Schick  and  Guthe  secured  squeezes  of  the 


ORIENTAL   ARCHEOLOGY  17 

inscription  whicii,  much  damaged  in  removal,  now  rests  in  the 
Imperial  Ottoman  Museum,  Constantinople.  It  is  the  oldest 
monument  but  one  in  the  Phoenicio- Hebrew  alphabet,  and  the 
oldest  original  Hebrew  document.  It  records  the  cutting  of  the 
conduit  in  which  it  was  found,  during  the  reign  of  Hezekiah, 
At  Diban,  the  ancient  capital  of  Moab,  there  was  discovered  by 
Pastor  F.  Klein  in  1868  a  royal  inscription  of  Mesha,  king  of 
Moab,  who  is  known  to  us  through  II  Kings  3.  It  contains 
thirty-four  lines,  in  a  language  closely  akin  to  Hebrew,  and  in 
the  oldest  form  of  the  "Mediterranean"  alphabet  known  to  us. 
In  1896  at  Madaba  a  mosaic  map  of  Syria,  Palestine,  and  Egypt 
was  discovered.  The  Palestine  Exploration  Fund  sent  Petrie 
in  1890  to  excavate  the  ancient  city  of  Lachish.  He  believed  it 
to  lie  buried  in  the  mound  of  Tell-el-Hesy,  and  working  there  he 
examined  strata  dating  from  1400  to  450  B.C.  The  remains  were 
mostly  pottery.  In  1899-1900  the  same  society  began  to  exca- 
vate Tell-Zakariya  (Azekah)  and  Tell-es-Safi  (Gath).  In  1900 
Bliss  and  Macalister  excavated  Tell-ej-Judaida  and  Tell- 
Sandahanna.  Macalister  published  in  1902  a  report  of  his  exca- 
vations at  Gezer,  which  he  has  continued  (1907-08).  In  the 
same  year  Sellin  excavated  Ta'armak,  a  Canaanitish  castle  of 
c.  2000  B.C.  In  Phoenicia  one  remarkable  find  had  been  made. 
At  Saida  there  was  discovered  in  1855,  the  sarcophagus  of  Esh- 
munazar,  king  of  Sidon  (c.  350  B.C.),  with  an  inscription  which, 
in  point  of  language  and  writing,  is  next  in  importance  to  that 
of  Siloam.  Many  other  sarcophagi  have  been  found  in  Phoe- 
nicia, but  with  the  exception  of  those  of  Tabnith  and  Alexander, 
so-called,  they  are  unimportant.  A  remarkable  find,  hardly 
falling  under  the  present  heading,  is  the  place  of  sacrifice,  dis- 
covered at  Petra  in  1901  by  George  L.  Robinson. 

4.  Egypt.  —  This  land  was  first  opened  to  the  West  through 
the  campaign  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte  in  1798.  The  great  wealth 
of  material  which  it  has  yielded,  and  the  many-sidedness  of  the 
results  —  e.g.  classical,  and  Hellenistic  Greek  texts  (Logia  of 
Jesus),  Biblical,  Gnostic,  and  other  Coptic  texts,  Hebrew, 
Arabic,  Persian,  and  Latin  texts,  and  monuments  and  papyri, 
allowing  the  reconstruction  of  the  language  and  civilization  of 
the  country  from  about  4000  B.C.  downward  —  make  the  almost 
total  absence  of  Biblical  illustrative  material,  like  that  of  Baby- 
Ionia,  the  more  conspicuous.  That  no  monument  referring  to 
c 


i8  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

the  Exodus  has  been  discovered  is  disappointing.  Of  these 
results  we  are  interested  only  in  the  Biblical. 

The  Rosetta  stone,  bearing  an  inscription  in  Hieroglyphic, 
Demotic,  and  Greek,  discovered  1799  near  Alexandria,  and  now 
in  the  British  Museum,  furnished  the  key  to  the  ancient  language. 
The  stubborn  script  yielded  its  secret  at  last  in  1822,  to  Cham- 
pollion.  The  latter  had  completed  at  his  death  in  1832  a  gram- 
mar and  vocabulary.  Exploration  and  decipherment  followed 
uninterruptedly.  Not  only  Egypt  proper,  but  also  Ethiopia 
(=  Nubia,  not  Abyssinia !)  was  searched  for  materials  hidden  in 
ruined  temples,  pyramids,  and  tombs :  Champollion  and  Rosel- 
lini  in  1828;  Perring  and  Vyse  in  1837;  Lepsius,  Erbkam,  and 
the  Weidenbachs;  Mariette  from  1850  onward;  Gardner, 
Griffith,  Naville,  and  Petrie,  for  the  Egyptian  Exploration  Fund, 
from  1883  onward;  Gautier  and  Jequier,  1894-95;  since  1896 
Amelineau;  and  Schafer,  de  Morgan,  Spiegelberg,  Newberry, 
and  Breasted  are  some  of  the  conspicuous  discoverers.  The 
cuneiform  tablets  found  at  Tell-el-Amarna  have  been  spoken  of 
above.  Tanis  (the  ancient  Zoan),  Pithom,  and  Goshen  have 
been  located.  The  Fayum  has  yielded  a  wealth  of  papyri  of 
every  sort  and  in  many  languages  since  1878.  Not  only  the  old 
capital,  Arsinoe  (Crocodilopolis),  but  the  towns  Hawara,  El- 
Lahtin,  and  Gurob  have  been  investigated.  The  Faytim  has 
also  furnished  a  great  deal  of  the  material  which  has  been  bought 
from  the  natives.  Not  to  be  omitted  are  the  Aramaic  papyri 
discovered  at  Assuan,  and  published  by  Sayce  and  Cowley, 
1907 ;  and  those  found  by  Rubensohn  at  Elephantine,  published 
by  Sachau,  1907,  representing  a  letter  written  by  Jewish  priests 
of  that  place,  to  the  Judean  governor  Bagoi,  in  the  year  408/7 
B.C.,  and  a  reply  of  Bagoi  and  of  the  Samaritan  Delajah.  The 
letter  was  a  petition  for  permission  to  restore  the  Jewish  temple 
at  Elephantine,  which  had  been  destroyed  three  years  before  at 
the  instigation  of  the  priests  of  Anubis.  The  permission  was 
granted  in  the  reply,  without  any  reference  to  the  Persian 
government. 

5.  Arabia.  —  Arabia  has  furnished  no  historical  monuments 
connected  with  Biblical  history,  but  as  a  part  of  the  Ancient 
Orient,  and  especially  as  the  land  from  which  the  Semitic- 
speaking  peoples  probably  came,  and  in  which  many  of  their 
primitive  religious  and  social  traits  may  be  supposed  to  be 


ORIENTAL   ARCHEOLOGY  19 

preserved,  it  engages  our  attention.  Semitic  anthropology 
and  religion  have  long  been  studied  through  the  copious,  yet, 
for  this  purpose,  meager  literature  of  the  Arabs.  Now,  not  only 
have  the  cuneiform  inscriptions  given  us  glimpses  of  the  penin- 
sula in  ancient  times,  but  both  the  north  and  south  of  the  coun- 
try itself  have  yielded  monuments. 

The  results  of  research  in  Arabia  have  been  geographical, 
anthropological,  and  linguistic.  No  excavation  has  been  at- 
tempted, the  finds  having  been  taken  from  the  surface.  The 
long  series  of  illustrious  explorers  cannot  here  be  even  enumer- 
ated. The  most  important  names  are:  Niebuhr,  1761-64; 
Seetzen,  1810-11  (Mecca  visited,  Aden  and  San' a,  first  S.  Ara- 
bian inscriptions) ;  Burckhardt,  1814-16  (Mecca  and  Me- 
dina visited) ;  Wellsted,  1834-35;  Cruttenden,  1838  (S.  Arabian 
inscriptions);  Arnaud,  1843  (S-  Arabia  and  the  Dam  of  Marib; 
many  inscriptions) ;  Wallin,  1845  (N.Arabia;  Medina);  Bur- 
ton, 1853  (Mecca  and  Medina),  and  1877-78  (N.  W.  Arabia); 
Palgrave,  1862-63  (crossed  Arabia);  Haldvy,  1869  (Marib, 
Sirwah,  al-Yemen;  c.  700  inscriptions);  Maltzan,  1870-71 
(S.  coast);  Doughty,  1876-78  (Central  Arabia;  Nabataean, 
Minaean,  Lihyanic,  Thamtidic  inscriptions) ;  Glaser,  1882-84, 
1885-86,  1887-88,  1892-94  (explored  widely  in  South  Arabia; 
collected,  copied,  and  caused  to  be  copied,  a  vast  number  of 
inscriptions,  e.g.  the  Dam  Inscription  of  Marib,  and  that  of 
Sirwah,  c.  550  B.C.,  alleged  to  be  of  great  value,  but  withheld 
from  publication);  Euting,  1883-84  (N.  Arabia;  Nabataean, 
Lihyanic,  and  Minaean  inscriptions  from  El-'Oela,  the  extreme 
northern  caravan  station  of  South  Arabian  commerce) ;  Huber 
(companion  of  Euting;  discovered  Taima  inscription  of  sixth 
century  B.C.);  Hurgronje,  1884-85  (spending  a  year  in  Mecca); 
Count  Landberg,  1895-97  (S.  Arabia). 

The  decipherment  of  inscriptions  has  been  the  work  of  many 
scholars,  among  whom  are:  Gesenius,  Rodiger,  Osiander, 
Halevy,  Pra^torius,  Mordtmann,  D.  H.  MuUer,  Glaser,  Homrael, 
Nielsen,  Littmann. 


BIBLICAL   GEOGRAPHY 

Professor  Adelaide   Imogen  Locke 

Wellesley  College 

Before  1834  the  work  of  identifying  Biblical  sites  had  made 
little  progress.  The  Biblical  data,  while  generally  clear  as  to 
regions,  gave  meager  and  indefinite  indications  of  distances  and 
directions.  Pilgrim  interest,  both  Jewish  and  Christian,  cen- 
tered chiefly  in  a  few  places,  and  by  its  insistence  and  credulity 
created  a  supply  of  ecclesiastical  traditions  better  suited  to  meet 
the  demand  than  to  substantiate  their  claims.  Ignorance  of  the 
language,  the  opposition  of  authorities,  the  dangers  and  expense 
of  travel,  were  further  obstacles  in  the  path  of  the  explorer. 
Yet  to  the  pilgrim  interest  we  owe  one  great  work,  the  Onomas- 
iicon  of  Eusebius  and  Jerome,  a  geographical  dictionary  contain- 
ing over  a  thousand  Biblical  place-names  and  suggesting  some 
three  hundred  identifications.  The  preservation  of  popular 
names  as  they  existed  in  the  time  of  the  writers  and  the  notes  of 
distances  give  it  special  value  for  the  modern  student. 

Reland  (17 14,  note  the  significant  gap),  although  never  him- 
self an  explorer,  mightily  cleared  the  way  for  others  by  collating 
in  his  geographical  dictionary  the  data  of  the  Bible,  Josephus, 
Roman  itineraries,  Eusebius,  and  some  of  the  more  important 
pilgrim  travelers;  by  inaugurating  the  discussion  of  the  physical 
features  of  Palestine;  and  by  his  rigid  insistence  on  scientific 
methods  of  research.  His  influence  is  to  be  traced  on  Pococke 
(17 1 4),  who  collected  and  transliterated  place-names,  challenged 
ecclesiastical  identifications,  made  suggestions  of  value,  and 
explored  less-traveled  portions  of  the  land  such  as  the  upper 
Jordan  valley  and  the  region  about  Damascus. 

In  1805-07  Seetzen,  a  German  traveler,  traversed  the  eastern 
provinces  of  Palestine,  made  the  tour  of  the  Dead  Sea,  and 
crossed  the  desert  of  Arabia  Petraea.  He  also  explored  the  old 
pilgrim    paths  of  western   Palestine.     He   learned  Arabic,   he 


BIBLICAL    GEOGRAPHY  21 

made  lists  of  places  and  ruins  both  visited  and  unvisited,  he  trans- 
literated them  carefully  and  scientifically,  he  copied  many 
inscriptions.  Best  of  ail  he  discovered  the  remains  of  Gerasa 
and  Philadelphia.  Burckhardt  (1810-12)  went  over  much  the 
same  ground  east  of  the  Jordan,  adding  new  observations,  copy- 
ing more  inscriptions,  and  extending  the  list  of  Arabic  place- 
names,  which  he  was  the  first  to  write  in  Arabic  as  well  as  in 
transliteration.  He  also  found,  identified,  and  described  long- 
lost,  inaccessible  Petra.  He  described  in  general  the  country 
between  the  Dead  Sea  and  the  Gulf  of  Akaba  and  in  detail  the 
topography  of  the  Hauran,  and  added  much  to  our  knowledge 
of  the  general  features  of  the  Sinai  region. 

In  the  construction  of  maps  some  good  work  was  done  by  the 
French  government  based  on  the  coast-surveys  of  Jacotin  and 
Paultre  (1803),  and  by  Kloden  (1817)  and  Dufour  (1825)  in  the 
combination  of  the  best  existing  materials.  Yet,  after  all  has 
been  summed  up,  it  remains  true  that  of  the  1,282  place-names 
mentioned  in  the  Bible  and  Apocrypha  more  than  half  still 
awaited  satisfactory  identification. 

To  this  summary  of  progress  in  1834  what  can  we  add  in  1909  ? 
A  year  after  the  founding  of  Hartford  Seminary  appeared  the 
great  map  of  Berghaus,  which,  according  to  Ritter,  opened  a 
new  era  in  Palestinian  chartography.  Its  value  lay  in  its  critical 
use  of  all  the  most  important  sources,  including  the  observations 
of  the  most  recent  travelers,  and  in  the  indication  of  the  routes 
of  Burckhardt  and  others.  It  was  destined,  however,  to  be 
superseded  almost  as  soon  as  its  value  was  fully  recognized,  by 
the  work  of  Robinson  and  Kiepert.  The  former,  in  two  journeys 
(1838  and  1852)  covering  five  months  all  together,  reaped  the 
richest  harvest  that  has  fallen  to  any  one  man  in  this  field.  In 
his  list  of  Biblical  place-names  there  occur  over  150  sites  identi- 
fied by  himself,  and  he  offered  besides  valuable  suggestions  re- 
garding many  others  that  he  considered  doubtful.  A  claim  to 
genius,  as  well  as  a  tribute  to  his  exceptional  scholarship,  might 
well  be  founded  on  the  fact  that  the  labors  of  the  succeeding 
half  century  have  overthrown  but  few  of  his  identifications. 
Among  the  important  places  that  we  owe  him  on  our  maps  are 
Anathoth,  Bethel,  Shiloh,  Michmash,  Jezrecl,  Elcutheropolis, 
the  Vale  of  Elah.  Hardly  less  important  was  his  work  in  fixing 
the  orthography  of  Arab  names,  in  bringing  about  the  adoption 


22  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

of  a  general  system  of  transliteration,  in  distinguishing  the 
"topographical  tradition  fastened  upon  the  land  by  foreign 
ecclesiastics  and  monks  from  the  ordinary  tradition  or  preser- 
vation of  ancient  names  among  the  native  population."  His 
work  included  further,  to  use  his  own  words  again,  "a  historical 
review  of  the  Sacred  Geography  of  Palestine  (west  of  the  Jordan) 
since  the  times  of  the  New  Testament,  pointing  out  under  each 
place  described  how  far  and  in  what  period  it  has  hitherto  been 
known."  He  wrote  a  memoir  on  maps,  but  intrusted  the  prepa- 
ration of  his  own  to  the  expert  aid  of  Kiepert.  In  it  were 
embodied,  besides  the  results  furnished  by  Jacotin,  Laborde, 
Burckhardt,  etc.,  data  from  Captain  Moresby's  Red  Sea  chart 
and  the  manuscript  maps  of  the  Lebanon  by  Ehrenburg  and 
Bird,  all  covering  regions  which  he  had  not  himself  visited. 

Closely  following  Robinson,  Tobler  (1845-65),  "the  father 
of  German  Palestinian  research,"  explored  a  considerable  part 
of  Judea  with  minute  pains,  describing  some  seventy  sites  and 
doing  careful  work  in  the  description  of  parts  of  Jerusalem  neg- 
lected by  Robinson.  To  continue  this  work  with  the  requisite 
thoroughness  over  the  entire  country  was  beyond  the  purse  of 
any  properly  equipped  person.  Guerin  (1852-75),  the  great 
Frenchman  who  continued  the  task  of  exploration  in  Samaria 
and  Galilee  as  well  as  Judea,  had  the  advantage  of  commissions 
from  his  government,  but  lacked  expert  assistance.  Yet  his 
descriptions  were  so  ample  and  accurate  as  to  make  his  work  a 
classic.  The  failures  no  less  than  the  successes  of  this  notable 
trio  pointed  the  way  for  the  great  task  of  the  Palestine  Explora- 
tion Fund. 

This  British  Society,  organized  in  1865,  undertook,  in  1871, 
the  arduous  survey  of  western  Palestine  on  the  scale  of  one  inch 
to  the  mile.  Under  Stewart,  Conder,  and  Kitchener  the  work 
was  carried  on  to  its  completion  in  1878.  When  published  in 
1880  it  was  found  to  represent  an  area  of  6,000  square  miles  and 
to  contain  many  Arabic  place-names  never  before  collected. 
The  route-map  of  Van  der  Velde,  the  best  after  Kiepert,  con- 
tained 1,800  place-names;  the  Survey  map,  9,000.  Close  study 
of  these  yielded,  according  to  Conder,  suggestions  for  the  identi- 
fication of  150  more  Biblical  sites,  the  largest  advance  since 
Robinson.  To  be  sure,  a  large  proportion  of  these  are  named 
but  once  in  the  Bible,  and  few  of  the  more  important  ones, 


BIBLICAL   GEOGRAPHY  23 

e.g.  Debir,  Tirzah,  Mahanaim,  Beth-Peor,  Ramoth-Gilead,  Zik- 
lag,  are  without  rivals,  but  this  is  inevitable  as  the  field  narrows. 

The  survey  of  eastern  Palestine  remained  to  be  undertaken. 
Begun  by  the  above  society  in  1881,  and  abandoned  because 
of  difficulties  over  the  firman,  it  was  taken  up  by  Schumacher, 
a  resident  German  railroad  surveyor.  Employed  now  by  the 
British,  and  now  by  the  German  Palestine  Society  organized 
in  1878,  he  has  surveyed  the  Jaulan,  southern  Bashan,  and  the 
region  of  the  Yarmuk  and  Jabbok.  Maps  have  been  published 
from  his  surveys  by  the  latter  society  from  time  to  time  in  its 
journal.  As  was  to  be  expected,  his  lists  contain  many  more 
names  before  unknown  than  those  west  of  the  Jordan. 

Meanwhile  the  land  has  continued  to  reward  the  efforts  of 
the  individual  explorer.  While  serving  as  French  consul,  Cler- 
mont-Ganneau  identified  Gezer  (1873)  and  Adullam  with  its 
famous  cave.  Succoth  fell  to  the  lot  of  U.  S.  Consul  Merrill, 
who  also  made  out  the  best  case  for  his  site  for  Jabesh-Gilead. 
Van  der  Velde  claims  Jogbehah,  Harosheth  of  the  Gentiles  was 
found  by  Thomson,  the  true  identification  of  Mt.  Hor  was  first 
suggested  by  Wilton,  and  that  of  Kadesh-Barnea  by  Rowlands, 
but  the  claims  of  the  two  latter  were  first  fully  established  by 
Trumbull  (1880). 

Meanwhile  the  efforts  of  the  explorers  on  the  field  were  greatly 
assisted  and  supplemented  by  the  work  of  scholars  at  home. 
Tobler,  unable  to  continue  his  work  of  exploration,  devoted 
himself  to  collecting  and  editing  the  original  texts  of  the  mass 
of  pilgrim-narratives  written  between  t,t,t,  and  1483.  These, 
issued  in  an  English  translation  after  his  death  in  1877  by  the 
Palestine  Pilgrim  Texts  Society,  have  been  used  with  profit 
in  tracing  the  history  of  many  places,  as  has  also  the  French 
collection  of  Historians  of  the  Crusades.  Tobler's  work  was 
continued  by  Rohricht  (1878),  whose  exhaustive  bibliography 
contains  3,515  titles  of  works  on  Palestine,  and  by  others  whose 
contributions  are  still  appearing  in  the  publications  of  the  Ger- 
man Palestine  Society.  Armstrong's  Names  and  Places  brought 
the  lists  of  Reland  and  Robinson  up  to  date  (1886),  and  his 
splendid  raised  map  of  Palestine  has  been  of  inestimable  value 
to  the  untravcled  student. 

The  material  contained  in  the  lists  of  Palestinian  towns  taken 
by  Thothmes  III  {c.  1501  B.C.),  Rameses  II  (1292  B.C.),  Rameses 


24  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

III  (1198  B.C.),  and  Shishak  (945  B.C.),  together  with  that  fur- 
nished in  the  Tell-el-Amarna  letters  from  Palestine  (c.  1400  B.C.), 
and  the  Travels  of  a  Mohar,  has  been  sifted  with  satisfactory 
results  by  Petrie,  Winckler,  Conder,  Sayce,  W.  Max  Miiller. 
Of  the  more  than  150  place-names  thus  listed  fully  half  are 
identified  with  Biblical  names  according  to  some,  three  fourths 
according  to  others.  Among  the  more  important  places  whose 
pre-Hebrew  antiquity  is  thus  established  are  Megiddo,  Kadesh, 
Gezer,  Dothan,  Aphek,  Aijalon,  Beth-shemesh,  Jerusalem. 
Compared  with  these,  the  Assyrian  data  relating  to  places  in 
Palestine  derived  from  the  accounts  of  Shalmaneser  II,  Tiglath- 
pileser  III,  and  Sargon  are  meager.  Among  the  Biblical 
place-names  outside  of  Palestine  the  labors  of  Layard,  Schrader, 
Delitzsch,  Hilprecht,  and  other  explorers  and  Assyriologists 
have  found  for  us  Nineveh,  Ur,  Shinar,  Elam,  Calah,  Helam, 
Haran,  the  "river"  Chebar. 

Other  sources  made  available  by  the  patient  efforts  of  scholars 
are:  Talmudic  Geography,  treated  by  Neubauer;  Mediasval 
Arab  Geography,  handled  by  Le  Strange;  and  the  notices  of 
Josephus,  compiled  by  Boettger  in  the  form  of  a  topographical 
historical  lexicon. 

Invaluable  aid  has  also  been  furnished  by  Biblical  critics. 
Not  only  does  the  Septuagint  text  of  Joshua  name  eleven  cities 
omitted  in  the  Hebrew,  but  its  rendering  in  twenty  other  cases 
helps  greatly  toward  their  identification.  Were  there  really 
six  Apheks,  three  Gilgals,  three  Hazors,  two  Mt.  Hors?  Why 
are  there  so  many  cases  of  the  same  name  in  southern  Judah  and 
northern  Israel  ?  Were  Sinai  and  Horeb  two  names  for  the  same 
mountain?  Should  it  or  they  be  looked  for  in  the  Sinaitic 
peninsula,  in  Moab,  in  Midian,  in  the  eastern  mountains  of  Seir, 
or  near  Kadesh-Barnea?  Why  have  almost  none  of  the  camp- 
ing places  of  the  Israelites  during  the  Exodus  been  identified  ? 
These  and  other  questions  bearing  on  our  subject  are  being 
largely  answered  through  the  work  of  Guthe,  Socin,  Cheyne, 
Winckler,  and  numerous  others. 

There  remained  the  task  of  sifting  these  multifarious  sources 
and  organizing  the  results  in  such  form  as  would  render  them 
most  useful  to  the  general  Bible  student.  A  treatment  of  Bibli- 
cal Geography  was  needed  that  should  be  accurate,  systematic, 
comprehensive,  and  illuminating.     The  facts  must  be  made  to 


BIBLICAL    GEOGRAPHY 


25 


yield  their  utmost  of  significance  to  the  interpretation  of  the 
history  of  Israel,  Judaism,  and  Christianity.  The  great  master 
in  dealing  with  the  historical  geography  of  Palestine  following 
Reland  and  Robinson  proved  to  be  Ritter,  the  distinguished 
German  geographer.  In  his  encyclopedic  work  on  the  Geography 
of  Asia  ample  space  was  given  to  Syria  and  Palestine.  The  large 
grasp  of  relations  shown  in  this  work,  no  less  than  the  exhaustive 
treatment  of  material,  continues  to  elicit  the  student's  admira- 
tion, but  its  great  length,  even  in  the  much  abridged  English 
translation  of  1866,  prohibited  its  general  use.  The  need  was 
fully  met  for  the  English  student  by  the  publication  in  1894  of 
George  Adam  Smith's  masterly  Historical  Geography  of  the 
Holy  Land,  and  for  the  German  by  the  still  more  compact  work 
of  Buhl  issued  in  1896,  and  followed  byHommel's  ten  years  later. 
In  concluding  this  brief  account  of  seventy-five  years'  progress 
it  is  well  to  remind  ourselves  that  while  so  much  has  been 
achieved  that  the  great  task  may  seem  well-nigh  completed, 
more  than  two  hundred  places  still  seek  identification,  and 
among  them  names  of  such  interest  as  Sinai,  Goshen,  Rameses, 
Aenon,  Bethsaida,  Cana,  Emmaus,  Calvary.  What  the  ex- 
plorer and  scholar  shall  fail  to  find  may  the  excavator  succeed 
in  recovering ! 


II.   OLD   TESTAMENT 

TEXTUAL   CRITICISM   OF   THE   OLD 
TESTAMENT 

Rev.  Mardiros  Harootioon  Ananikian,  S.T.M, 

Case  Memorial  Library,  Hartford 

It  has  long  been  recognized  that  no  miracle  interfered  to  pro- 
tect the  text  of  the  Bible  against  the  dangers  common  to  all 
ancient  mss.  Therefore,  both  in  the  interest  of  religion  and  of 
history,  no  effort  must  be  spared  to  restore  this  book  to  its  original 
integrity.  However,  we  may  not  hope  ever  to  see  the  Law  and 
the  Prophets  in  the  extent  and  the  form  in  which  they  left  the 
hands  of  the  sacred  authors.  Much  has  been  hopelessly  muti- 
lated and  a  good  deal  has  been  lost.  All  we  can  expect  is  to 
approximate  the  Hebrew  text  as  it  existed  a  little  before  the 
making  of  the  first  version.  Once  this  result  is  obtained,  we 
can  further  improve  it  through  the  careful  use  of  conjectural 
emendations.  Old  Testament  Criticism  has  therefore  to  run 
two  separate  courses  which  will  meet  at  the  end.  It  must, 
on  the  one  hand,  trace  as  far  back  as  possible  the  present  Mas- 
soretic  Text,  which  was  fixed  in  the  second  century  a.d.  by  an 
uncritical  process  of  selection,  and  which  was  not  immune  from 
corruption  even  afterwards.  On  the  other  hand,  it  must  some- 
how obtain  a  reliable  text  of  the  Septuagint  as  a  check  and  source 
of  correction  for  the  final  text.  The  aim  of  this  paper  is  to  show 
succinctly  what  has  been  accomplished  in  both  of  these  fields  of 
Biblical  research  during  the  past  seventy-five  years. 

I.  The  Massoretic  Text. — Before  1834  Sal.  Norzi  (1603), 
J.  H.  Michaelis,  B.  Kennicott  {Dissert.  Generalis,  1783),  and  de 
Rossi  with  his  two  important  works  (1784-88  and  1798)  are  the 
most  prominent  names  connected  with  the  study  of  Hebrew 
Old  Testament  mss.  Perhaps  Abr.  Firkhovitsch  deserves  men- 
tion also  as  a  collector  of  Karaite  codices. 

26 


TEXTUAL   CRITICISM    OF    OLD   TESTAMENT     27 

All  the  codices  with  superlinear  (Babylonian  or  Oriental)  punc- 
tuation became  known  after  1845.  The  great  number  of  mss. 
of  the  Geniza  of  Old  Cairo  (now  in  Cambridge),  as  well  as  some 
Bagdad  fragments  and  Western  mss.,  are  also  recent  discoveries. 
Among  these  the  most  valuable  are  the  Babylonian  codex 
of  the  Latter  Prophets,  916  a.d.  (photolithographic  edition  by 
Strack,  1876),  and  the  Cairo  codex  of  the  whole  Bible,  1008-10, 
both  of  which  are  in  St.  Petersburg;  the  Aleppo  Bible,  and  the 
codex  of  the  Former  and  Latter  Prophets,  1089  a.d.,  now  in  the 
Karaite  synagogue  at  Cairo. 

Within  the  last  seventy-five  years  Ginsburg  and  Baer  have 
been  the  most  active  Ms.  students.  An  enormous  amount  of 
work  remains  yet  to  be  done,  as  the  whole  of  our  MS. 
wealth  is  waiting  for  a  new  and  thorough  collating.  Konig's 
Einleitimg  (p.  52)  gives  a  list  of  the  earlier  great  collections  of 
variants.  No  work  of  this  kind  has  appeared  in  the  last  century ; 
but  a  large  number  of  readings  are  to  be  found  in  critical  editions 
of  the  Bible,  commentaries,  essays  and  articles  on  Biblical  sub- 
jects, and  critical  apparatuses  for  the  different  parts  of  the  Bible. 

The  older  authoritative  printed  editions  are  the  Bomberg 
Folio  (1525-26),  the  Mantua  Quarto  (1742-44),  and  the  Van  der 
Hooght  Octavo  (1705).  This  latter  was  often  reproduced  in  the 
nineteenth  century.  Among  the  more  recent  editions  we  may 
note  the  Baer  and  Delitzsch  edition  (1869  ff.),  in  single  volumes 
based  on  Ben  Asher  mss.,  with  critical  notes  from  Massoretic 
sources;  the  Ginsburg  text  (1894),  also  derived  from  Ben  Asher 
mss.  and  giving  a  large  Massoretic  apparatus  in  footnotes; 
Kittel's  Biblia  Hehraica  (1905),  based  on  the  Bomberg  text, 
with  variants  in  footnotes  from  Hebrew  mss.,  ancient  versions 
and  modern  emendations;  Haupt's  so-called  Rainbow  Bible 
(1893  ff.),  which  gives  an  unpointed  corrected  text.  The  read- 
ings here  adopted  come  from  Hebrew  sources,  versions  (mostly 
the  LXX),  and  conjectural  emendations,  which  play  an  unduly 
large  part.  Lack  of  space  forbids  us  to  mention  the  critical 
editions  of  many  individual  books,  such  as  the  Aramaic  portions 
of  the  Old  Testament  given  by  Strack  in  his  Biblical  Aramaic 
Grammar,  etc. 

The  Massora,  i.e.  the  once  oral,  now  written  tradition  about 
the  consonantal  text  and  the  vocalization  of  the  Hebrew  Old 
Testament,  is  a  very  treasury  of  corrections.     It  has  taken  the 


28  ^RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

form  of  alphabetical  lists  and  may  be  distinguished  as  the  Mas- 
sora  Marginalis  (Parva,  near  the  column,  and  Magna,  above 
or  under  the  column)  and  the  Massora  Finalis,  which  appeared 
at  the  end  of  the  volume,  and  then  gradually  became  an  inde- 
pendent book.  Before  1834  Ben  Chayyim's  Massora  collection 
in  the  fourth  volume  of  the  Bombergiana  was  the  main  source  of 
the  later  Massora  publications.  Recent  editions  are  the  Okhla 
we  Okhla  (1863)  and  the  Massora  Magna  (1876),  by  Frensdorf ; 
Elias  Levita's  Massoreth  ha-Massoreth  (1867)  and  the  great 
Massora  collection  in  4  vols.  (1880  ff.),  by  Ginsburg.  Baer  and 
Strack  published  in  1879  Aaron  b.  Asher's  Dikduke  Hateamim. 

The  Samaritan  Pentateuch  is  a  Hebrew  text  of  the  Pentateuch, 
unpointed  and  in  ancient  script,  probably  going  as  far  back  as 
433  B.C.,  and  therefore  offering  the  oldest  witness  to  the  post- 
exilic  Torah.  Unfortunately  many  corruptions,  which  can 
be  explained  mostly  from  ignorance  of  Hebrew  and  theological 
scruples,  crept  into  it  in  the  course  of  time.  The  Samaritan  Pen- 
tateuch shows  six  thousand  variants  as  compared  with  the  Masso- 
retic  Text,  a  considerable  portion  of  which  must  be  valuable. 
Rosen  gives  a  list  of  the  Samaritan  mss.  in  Z.D.M.G.,  1864. 
Peterman  collected  variants  (1868),  and  W.  Scott  Watson  (in 
Hebraica,  vol.  IX)  describes  a  critical  ms.  as  a  basis  for  a  new 
edition.     Von  Gall  is  now  issuing  a  new  critical  edition. 

Aquila's  version  of  the  Massoretic  Text  into  Greek,  made  for 
the  Greek-speaking  Jews  and  proselytes  in  the  second  quarter 
of  the  second  century,  was  extremely  systematic  and  literal, 
and  therefore  can  readily  be  turned  back  into  Hebrew.  It  was 
still  in  use  in  the  sixth  century,  but  now  we  know  it  mostly  from 
Origen's  Hexapla  (see  Field's  edition).  Some  newly  discovered 
fragments  from  the  Cairo  Geniza  have  been  published  by  Burkitt 
(I  Kings  20^",  II  Kings  23^^^)  and  C.  Taylor  (portions  of 
Psalms  90-103  and  Psalm  22,  a  whole  leaf  of  the  Hexapla). 
Further,  Grenfell-Hunt  published  a  fragment  of  Aquila  in  the 
Amherst  Papyri,  Pt.  I,  pp.  30  ff.,  and  Mercati,  a  continuous  frag- 
ment of  the  Hexapla  Psalms  from  a  tenth  century  palimpsest 
(1896).  The  first  five  verses  of  Aquila's  Genesis  were  also  dis- 
covered on  the  top  of  a  letter  from  Rome.  A  complete  text,  if 
ever  found,  will  be  an  invaluable  witness,  either  to  the  early 
codices  of  our  Massoretic  Text  or  to  some  other  authoritative 
recension  of  the  Hebrew  Bible. 


TEXTUAL    CRITICISM    OF    OLD   TESTAMENT     29 

Theodotion's  very  early  translation  from  the  Hebrew  is  also 
lost,  except  the  Book  of  Daniel,  which  circulated  in  the  Church 
in  this  version,  and  the  portions  of  Jeremiah  with  which  Origen 
filled  up  the  gaps  of  the  LXX  Jeremiah.  Swete  edits  Jeremiah 
ii""^*^  in  his  Introduction.  It  is  also  thought  that  Ezra  B 
in  our  Greek  mss.,  a  literal  rendering  of  the  Massoretic  Text, 
comes  from  Theodotion's  version. 

Symmachus's  version  was  made  later  than  those  of  Aquila  and 
Thcodotion  and  aimed  to  express  more  the  sense  than  the  letter 
of  the  Massoretic  Text.  It  is  known  to  us  only  in  Hexaplaric 
remnants. 

The  Targums,  and  perhaps  the  Bible  quotations  in  the  Mid- 
rash  and  Talmud,  would  yield  some  good  readings  if  critically 
used.  But  almost  nothing  has  been  attempted  in  this  field, 
although  the  Targums  have  begun  to  appear  in  reliable  editions, 
e.^.  Berliner's  Onqelos,  1883,  Levy's  Isaiah,  1889;  and  specially 
Lagarde's  Prophets  and  Hagiographa,  1872-73.  The  oldest 
and  most  trustworthy  recension  of  the  Targums  is  the  South 
Arabian  codex  of  the  Pentateuch  brought  to  Europe  in  1876. 

The  Peshitta  (Syriac)  version  was  probably  made  by  the  Jews 
in  the  first  century  of  our  era  directly  from  the  Massoretic  Text. 
Targumic  influences  are  recognized  in  some  parts.  The  re- 
vision of  Philoxenus  in  508,  and  also  later  revisions,  brought 
into  it  a  large  element  of  LXX  readings. 

The  oldest  edition  of  the  Peshitta  (Michel  le  Jay's  Polyglott, 
1657)  was  reproduced  by  Lee,  1821,  and  by  the  missionaries 
in  Urumia,  1852.  The  Dominicans  at  Mosul  gave  an  unsatis- 
factory edition  (1887-92).  For  critical  purposes  Ceriani's 
photolithographic  reproduction  of  the  Codex  Ambrosianus 
(1876-81)  is  indispensable.  The  Apocrypha  were  edited  by 
Lagarde  (1861),  the  Psalms  by  Bedjan  (1886).  For  a  fuller 
list  of  MSS.,  printed  editions,  monographs,  etc.,  on  the  Peshitta, 
see  articles  in  Hauck's  RealencyclopiXdie,  Hastings's  Dictionary 
of  the  Bible,  Barnes  in  Expository  Times,  September,  1898, 
Ceriani's  Editions  and  MSS.  of  the  Syriac  Old  Testament 
(Italian)  (1869).  Not  only  the  age  of  the  Peshitta,  but  also  the 
close  relation  existing  between  the  Syriac  and  Hebrew  lan- 
guages, makes  this  version  a  great  help  in  Old  Testament  textual 
criticism. 

The  Vulgate  version  was  begun  by  Jerome  in  390  a.d.  from 


30  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

the  Hebrew  text  to  take  the  place  of  the  Old  Latin  translations 
current  in  the  Western  Church.  It  did  not  find  a  ready  accept- 
ance at  first,  nor  was  it  complete.  In  time  there  developed  a 
mixed  text,  especially  in  the  Gospels.  The  Apocrypha  were 
taken  over  from  the  Old  Latin,  except  Judith  and  Tobit,  and 
the  ancient  Latin  Psalter  survived  in  a  revised  form. 

No  valuable  mss.  have  lately  been  added  to  our  large  stock 
of  Vulgate  codices,  nor  have  these  been  thoroughly  sifted.  The 
mediaeval  correctoria  remain  unpublished.  Critical  work  in  this 
field  is  just  in  its  beginnings.  Vercellone  gave  a  good  collection 
of  variants  in  1860-64.  Berger  wrote  an  excellent  history  of 
the  Vulgate  (1893).  Of  recent  editions  we  may  note  Vercellone's 
good  reprint  of  the  Clementine  Vulgate  (1861),  with  an  invalu- 
able preface,  and  Heyse  and  Tischendorf's  imperfect  edition 
based  on  Codex  Amiatinus  (1873). 

2.  The  Septuagint  and  Versions  derived  from  it.  —  This  ear- 
liest of  all  the  Old  Testament  versions  was  begun  in  the  third 
century  B.C.  It  therefore  represents  a  post-exilic  Old  Testament 
text.  However,  it  soon  became  corrupt  and  developed,  as  in 
the  case  of  the  Old  Latin  version,  into  different  types  or  recensions. 
Origen  made  matters  worse  through  his  effort  to  bring  the  LXX 
into  conformity  with  the  Massoretic  Text.  The  critical  signs 
with  which  he  inserted  corrections  or  additions  from  the  later 
Greek  versions  (mostly  that  of  Theodotion)  were  gradually 
omitted,  thus  giving  rise  to  a  mixed  text,  whose  original  sources 
soon  disappeared.  The  LXX  was  further  manipulated  by 
Hesychius  and  Lucian,  so  that  little  or  nothing  of  the  ancient 
version  escaped  the  disastrous  influence  of  these  recensions. 
The  task  of  present-day  LXX  scholarship  is  to  rediscover  the 
old  text.  Lagarde  is  the  great  master  of  our  times  in  LXX  criti- 
cism. He  clearly  enunciated  its  principles  (see  Art.  "Texts 
and  Versions"  in  Encychpcedia  Biblica),  and  applied  them  in 
his  multitudinous  contributions.  Yet  it  is  still  a  question  whether 
we  may  hope  ever  to  attain  a  reliable  LXX  text.  Perhaps  we 
ought  to  be  contented  with  a  careful  collation  of  the  important 
codices  with  the  Massoretic  Text. 

The  Codex  Sinaiticus,  discovered  by  Tischendorf  in  1844, 
is  the  most  important  recent  addition  to  our  wealth  of  LXX  mss. 
Also  many  fragments  and  palimpsests  have  come  to  light  (see 
Swete,  Introd.,  pp.  125  ff.).    The  best  printed  edition  is  that  of 


TEXTUAL   CRITICISM    OF    OLD   TESTAMENT     31 

Swete (Cambridge,  1887-94),  based  on  Codex B  (Vaticamis),  with 
variants  from  the  ma.munda.h (Alex., Sinait.,  Ambros., Marchal.). 
The  larger  Cambridge  edition  by  Brooke  and  McLean  will 
repeat  the  same  text,  but  the  apparatus  will  include  many 
good  cursives,  the  main  old  versions  (Old  Latin,  Egyptian, 
Syro-Hexapla,  and  Armenian),  and  quotations  from  Philo, 
Josephus,  and  important  Christian  Fathers.  There  are  also 
many  recent  editions  of  the  separate  books  of  the  LXX,  such 
as  Lagarde's  Genesis  GrcBca,  etc.  All  the  great  uncials  have  ap- 
peared either  in  photographic  or  facsimile  editions  (the  Sinaiti- 
cus,  1846-62;  the  Vaticanus,  1828-^8  and  1881;  the  Ephrami 
Syri,  1845;  the  Bodleianus,  1857;  the  Alexandrinus,  1879- 
8^;  and  the  Vaticamis,  1904-6). 

The  fifth  (LXX)  column  of  Origen's  Hexapla  was  preserved 
separately  through  the  copies  of  Eusebius  and  Pamphilus.  The 
original  unwieldy  codex  perished  probably  during  the  Arabian 
conquest.  To  our  old  stock  of  Hexaplaric  codices  (Colberio- 
Sarravianus,  the  surviving  Syro-Hexapla  portions,  and  many 
fragments)  little  has  been  added  in  recent  times  (see  Aquila, 
above).  Whatever  we  may  discover  of  the  other  columns  w'ill 
not  only  be  of  value  for  the  Massoretic  Text,  but  also  for  the 
restoration  of  the  prehexaplaric  LXX.  Field,  on  the  basis  of 
Montfaucon's  work,  gave  the  best  edition  of  the  surviving 
Hexapla  fragments  (1875). 

Different  parts  of  the  Syro-Hexapla,  which  is  a  faithful 
seventh-century  translation  into  Syriac  of  Origen's  fifth  column 
(of  which  large  portions  are  extant  in  European  libraries),  have 
been  published  by  Middledorpf,  1835;  S.  Rordam,  1861; 
Ceriani,  1874;  Lagarde,  1880  and  1882;  and  G.  Kerber,  1896. 
The  Syro-Hexapla,  completed  by  the  Arabic  translation  from  it, 
is  invaluable,  not  only  for  its  text,  but  also  for  the  Origenic  signs, 
which  it  has  scrupulously  preserved. 

Hesychius's  recension  of  the  LXX,  made  in  Egypt  after  350 
A.D.,  is  now  lost  as  an  independent  work  ;  but  a  number  of 
Greek  mss.  which  show  peculiar  readings  are  in  agreement  with 
the  Egyptian  versions.  The  Cod.  Marchalianus,  photographed 
and  annotated  by  Ceriani  (1890),  has  according  to  that  great 
scholar  a  Hesychian  text.  Also  Cod.  U  in  the  London  ^Museum, 
purchased  at  Thebes,  contains  fragments  of  the  Psalms  closely 
corresponding  to  the  Sahidic  Psalter.     The  Egyptian  version, 


32  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

part  of  the  Armenian,  the  Biblical  quotations  of  Cyril  of  Alex- 
andria and  other  Egyptian  writers,  have  come  to  be  recognized 
as  important  sources  for  Hesychian  readings.  Cornill's  name 
is  closely  connected  with  this  branch  of  LXX  criticism. 

Lucian's  recension  of  the  LXX  was  based  on  the  Hebrew 
(and  the  Peshitta?).  He  had  a  Hebrew  text  which  was  different 
from  Origen's  and  superior  to  ours  (Driver).  Lucian's  work 
survives  in  many  well-known  LXX  mss.  (see  Swete,  Introd.), 
It  found  its  way  also  into  the  Old  Latin,  the  Philoxenian  re- 
cension of  the  Peshitta,  the  Armenian,  Gothic,  Slavonic  versions, 
and  into  the  quotations  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Antiochian  School. 
Lagarde's  Genesis-Esther  (1883)  is  the  best  attempt  at  restoring 
the  Lucianic  recension. 

The  Old  Latin  version,  or  so-called  Itala,  consisting  of  African 
and  European  recensions,  is  extremely  important  for  LXX  criti- 
cism, as  it  is  undoubtedly  derived  from  a  prehexaplaric  LXX 
text.  It  is  preserved  only  in  fragments  and  patristic  quotations, 
the  latter  having  been  collected  by  Sabatier  (1743). 

The  Lyons  Heptateuch  (seventh  century),  the  most  important 
Old  Latin  ms.,  was  edited  by  Robert,  1900;  the  Freising  pal- 
impsest (fifth  or  sixth  century),  by  L.  Ziegler,  1883;  the  Wiirz- 
burger  palimpsests  (fifth  and  sixth  century),  the  Weingarten 
MS.  of  the  Prophets  (fifth  century),  and  the  Stuttgart  fragments, 
by  L.  Ranke,  1871-88.  The  readings  of  Cod.  Ottohonia  are 
given  in  Vercellone's  VaricE.  Lectiones.  The  re-editions  of  Latin 
Fathers  wdiich  are  now  appearing  {Vienna  Corpus;  Texts  and 
Studies,  etc.)  will  necessitate  a  revision  of  Sabatier's  collection. 
There  are  many  important  fragments,  like  the  Vienna  pal- 
impsest of  Genesis  and  the  Historical  Books,  which  have  not 
yet  been  published.  Berger  published  a  notice  on  the  unedited 
Old  Latin  texts,  1893  '■>  Lagarde  rendered  also  important  services 
to  this  branch  of  LXX  criticism. 

During  the  last  seventy-five  years  the  Egyptian  version,  a 
very  early  one,  has  attained  great  prominence,  not  only  through 
the  ever  increasing  number  of  its  fragmentary  codices,  but  also 
through  recognition  of  the  fact  that  it  yields  good  LXX  readings. 
This  version  occurs  mainly  in  the  Sahidic,  Middle  Egyptian,  and 
Bohairic  (so-called  Memphitic  or  Coptic)  dialects.  Hivernat, 
Maspero,  Lagarde,  Bouriant,  Krall,  Ciasca,  and  others  have 
done  much  for  the  description,  study,  and  editing  of  Egyptian 


TEXTUAL   CRITICISM   OF   OLD    TESTAMENT     ^s 

Bible  Mss.  Unfortunately,  no  complete  codex  of  the  whole  Bible 
has  yet  been  found.  Even  complete  mss.  of  individual  books 
are  few,  and  occur  mostly  in  the  Bohairic  dialect.  Of  the  many 
recent  editions  of  parts  and  fragments  of  the  Egyptian  version 
we  note  the  following:  Bohairic  Pentateuch  by  Fallet  (1854),  by 
Lagarde  (1867);  the  Boh.  Psalter  by  Ideler  (1837),  Schwartze 
(1848),  Lagarde  (1875),  F.  Rossi  (1894).  Tattam  edited  Job 
(1846),  the  Prophets  (1836-52),  also  some  other  fragments. 
Amelineau's  Job,  1887  (Proc.  of  the  Soc.  Bibl.  Arch.),  and 
Budge's  Earliest  Known  Coptic  Psalter  (Sahid.  1898),  are  both 
important.  The  value  of  the  restored  text  of  the  Egyptian 
versions  will  consist  both  in  their  affinity  with  the  Hesychian 
recension  and  in  their  relation  to  an  early  LXX  text. 

The  Palestinian  Syriac  version  (Melkite)  was  also  derived 
from  the  Greek  and  shows  affinity  with  the  Eusebian  edition  of 
the  Hexapla  LXX.  It  survives  in  fragments,  many  of  which 
have  been  published  by  Laud  (Anecdota  Syriaca,  1875),  Gwilliam 
(Anecdota  Oxoniensia,  1893-96),  J.  R.  Harris  (Bibl.  Fragments 
from  Mount  Sinai,  1890),  Mrs.  Lewis  (Studia  Sinaitica,  1897), 
and  Margoliouth  {Liturgy  of  the  Nile,  1897). 

Only  a  few  fragments  of  Genesis  and  Nehemiah  have  come 
down  to  us  from  the  Gothic  Old  Testament,  translated  by  Ulfilas 
about  350  A.D.  (Lucianic).  These  have  often  been  edited, 
along  with  the  New  Testament  fragments,  during  the  last 
century. 

The  original  Slavonic  version  of  Cyril  and  Methodius  (ninth 
century)  perished  during  the  Tartar  invasion.  The  surviving 
fragments  were  incorporated  in  Gennadius's  Bible  (1499),  of 
which  the  Octateuch  still  contains  old  and  interesting  readings. 
The  oldest  Slavonic  mss.  are  those  of  the  Psalter  (eleventh  and 
twelfth  centuries),  of  which  a  critical  edition  appeared  in  Moscow, 
1879.     Geitlcr  published  the  Sinai  MS.  of  the  Psalter  in  1884. 

The  Ethiopic  version  was  also  derived  from  the  LXX,  al- 
though the  native  authorities  maintain  that  it  was  translated 
from  the  Arabic.  The  richest  ms.  collections  are  kept  in  the 
Bodleian,  the  Biblioth^ue  Nationale  of  Paris,  the  British 
Museum,  and  the  Royal  Libraries  of  Berlin  and  Vienna.  An- 
cient editions  are  described  in  Le  Long's  Bihlioth.  Sacra,  Pt.  11. 
In  more  recent  times  Dillmann  edited  Genesis-Kings  (1S53-71) 
and  the  Deutero-Canonical  Books  (1894).     Joel  was  edited  by 


34  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

Merx;  the  Twelve  Prophets,  Jeremiah,  Lamentations,  Malachi, 
and  part  of  Isaiah,  by  Buchanan  (1893  ff.)- 

The  Armenian  version  was  made  in  the  first  quarter  of  the 
fifth  century,  probably  from  the  Peshitta,  and  was  then  com- 
pleted and  carefully  revised  on  the  basis  of  a  LXX  copy  brought 
from  Constantinople.  It  shows  traces  of  the  Lucianic,  Hesychian, 
and  Hexaplaric  recensions.  There  is  great  need  of  critical 
study  in  this  field.  The  chief  collections  of  Mss.  are  found  in 
Etchmiadsin,  Moscow,  the  Armenian  Catholic  monasteries  of 
Venice  and  Vienna,  and  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale.  A  good 
many  codices  are  also  to  be  found  all  over  the  Caucasus  and 
Turkey,  especially  in  ancient  monasteries.  Mss.  of  the  whole 
Bible  are  rare;  three  of  those  in  Etchmiadsin  were  written  re- 
spectively in  1157,  1253,  and  1270;  one  in  Venice  in  1220.  The 
best  edition  before  our  period  was  Zohrab's,  Venice,  1805;  the 
Bible  Society's  edition  (Constantinople,  1895)  adopted  the  read- 
ings nearest  to  the  Massoretic  Text.  A  new  critical  edition 
appeared  in  Etchmiadsin  in  1905. 


EXEGESIS   OF   THE   OLD   TESTAMENT 

Professor  Augustus  Stiles  Carrier,  D.D. 

McCoRMicK  Theological  Seminary 

In  1834  Hebrew  grammar  and  lexicography  received  fresh 
impulse  through  the  work  of  Gesenius,  and  in  an  important 
sense  Old  Testament  learning  may  be  said  to  have  taken  then 
a  new  direction.  The  fetters  of  language  were  broken,  rab- 
binic methods  and  terminology  were  largely  abandoned,  and 
Hebrew  scholarship  entered  upon  a  new  career.  There  were 
great  men  before  the  Trojan  heroes,  yet  their  exploits  are  but 
the  penumbra  of  a  memory.  So  in  the  field  of  Old  Testament 
scholarship  few  great  names  survive  which  antedate  the  past 
seventy-five  years.  What  preceded  became  the  substratum 
upon  which  much  has  since  been  built,  but  the  creative  work 
by  which  our  life  has  been  enriched  has  been  done  mostly 
within  the  compass  of  three  quarters  of  a  century.  Edward 
Robinson,  co-worker  with  Moses  Stuart  in  Andover  and  later 
professor  in  Union  Theological  Seminary,  contributed  largely 
to  the  interest  men  were  feeling  in  learning,  and  ambitious 
young  students  were  impelled  by  his  example  and  enthusiasm 
to  visit  the  lecture-halls  of  Germany.  The  fact  that  through- 
out all  the  years  since  1834  almost  every  Hebrew  grammar 
and  lexicon  has  borne  upon  its  title-page  the  name  of  Gese- 
nius, shows  how  sound  was  his  method  and  how  potent  his  in- 
fluence. Robinson's  translation  of  Gesenius's  Lexicon  links 
together  two  names  of  great  significance  for  Hebrew  learning. 

Important  monuments  of  the  older  day  of  Exegesis  survived 
in  1834  in  the  Authorized  Version  and  Luther's  German  Bible. 
These  maintained  their  hold  upon  the  pubhc  mind  and  con- 
ditioned largely  the  results  of  scholarship.  The  Authorized 
Version,  because  of  its  music  and  its  incomparable  English,  could 
not  be  set  aside.  We  own  its  sway  to-day  in  the  very  word 
"Revision,"  which  stamps  the  great  products  of  our  own  period 

35 


36  RECENT  CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

in  the  department  of  translation  as  but  reverent  attempts  to 
make  more  luminous  the  work  of  1611.  But  if  translators  did 
not  feel  themselves  free  to  reconstruct  the  Biblical  version 
"which  shall  be  known  and  read  of  all  men,"  the  new  horizon 
that  began  to  appear  in  1834  inclosed  a  wider  world  than  had 
ever  been  known  before.  Biblical  knowledge  at  once  diflFeren- 
tiated  itself  into  many  special  departments,  exploration  and 
discovery  threw  a  new  light  upon  the  Word,  Criticism  received 
a  new  impulse,  and  Biblical  Theology  was  born. 

In  1 84 1  Edward  Robinson  published  his  Biblical  Researches, 
and  thereby  gave  the  world  a  vision  of  the  Holy  Fields  such  as  no 
previous  generation  had  possessed.  His  monumental  work  and 
Thomson's  The  Land  and  the  Book  (1859)  may  fitly  be  reckoned 
among  the  most  effective  modern  aids  to  the  study  of  the  Word 
of  God.  The  names  of  Ewald  and  de  Wette,  Olshausen, 
Delitzsch,  Dillmann,  and  a  host  of  others  rise  before  us  at  the 
beginning  of  our  period.  Great  comprehensive  commentaries 
were  projected  and  published.  C.  F.  K.  Rosenmuller  com- 
pleted a  massive  work  just  before  his  death  in  1835,  in  which 
are  embalmed  the  best  results  of  his  predecessors. 

A  scientific  method,  both  literary  and  historical,  gradually 
won  its  way,  and  this  embodied  itself  in  the  Kurzgefasstes 
exegetisches  Handbuch  zum  Alien  Testament,  begun  in  1838, 
Xnobel,  Hitzig,  and  Olshausen  being  among  the  most  prominent 
contributors.  There  was  a  vitality  and  a  force  to  the  Handbuch 
which  gave  it  permanence.  It  was  on  correct  lines,  the  scholar- 
ship exhibited  was  generally  of  a  high  order,  and  in  1875  Dillmann 
made  it  the  framework  for  his  own  contributions  to  Old  Testa- 
ment exegesis.  Much  of  it  now  seems  ponderous,  but  Dillmann 
illuminates  it  by  his  own  learning  and  brilliance,  and  the  Hexa- 
teuch  and  Job  from  his  pen  are  among  our  best  commentaries. 
Genesis  alone  has  been  translated  into  English. 

Different  in  tone  was  the  Theologisch-homiletisches  Bibelwerk 
of  J.  P.  Lange,  begun  in  1857.  By  it  we  cannot  say  that 
scientific  study  was  so  much  stimulated,  as  that  Biblical  knowl- 
edge was  popularized  and  made  more  accessible,  while  its  trans- 
lation into  English  introduced  some  of  the  simpler  Old  Testa- 
ment problems  to  the  American  portion  of  the  English-speaking 
world.  The  Biblischer  Kommentar  ilber  das  Alte  Testament  by 
Keil  and  Delitzsch,  also  translated,  added  far  more.     Isaiah^ 


EXEGESIS    OF   THE    OLD   TESTAMENT         37 

Psalms,  and  Job,  by  Delitzsch,  became  the  handbooks  for  those 
who  wished  a  close  approach  to  the  great  writings  of  the  Old 
Testament ;  and  the  Minor  Prophets,  by  Keil,  is  the  best  con- 
servative work  on  the  subject.  The  Speaker's  Commentary, 
edited  by  F.  C.  Cook  (1871-76),  conservative  and  scholarly  but 
apologetic,  was  the  mainstay  of  those  who  were  not  yet  ready 
to  plunge  into  the  deep  waters  of  Criticism.  La  Bible,  by 
Reuss  (1875),  was  exceedingly  critical.  The  Pulpit  Commentary, 
by  Spence  and  Exell  (1882),  contained  several  good  introduc- 
tions. The  Kurzgefasster  Kommentar  zu  den  heiligen  Schriflcn 
Alten  und  Neuen  Testamentes,  by  Strack  and  Zockler  (1886), 
represented  the  conservative  party  in  Germany. 

While  these  commentaries  were  appearing  profound  changes 
were  taking  place,  for  the  great  subject  of  the  Literary  and  His- 
torical Criticism  of  the  Hexateuch  was  stirring  all  thoughtful  Old 
Testament  scholars.  Alignment  on  this  question  was  already 
manifest  before  i860.  In  Germany  many  things  were  seen  to  be 
but  provisional;  and  while  dogmatism  and  intolerance  were  mani- 
fest, some  were  holding  their  minds  open,  while  others  ventured 
into  untried  fields,  trusting  to  a  method  which  might  and  did 
undergo  revision  as  experience  ripened  judgment,  but  which 
was  on  the  whole  scientific.  It  was  in  the  field  of  Old  Testa- 
ment Introduction  that  the  greatest  progress  was  made,  for 
there  men  were  freer,  and  there  the  scientific  method  was  more 
natural  and  necessary.  Although  Vatke  in  1836  put  forth  a 
work  of  great  critical  importance,  Heinrich  Ewald  was  the  man 
whose  brilliancy  and  insight  popularized  the  new  critical  method, 
and  his  influence  was  tremendous  and  enduring.  The  History 
of  Israel  (1843-52),  Poetical  Books  of  the  Old  Testament 
(1833-38),  Prophets  of  the  Old  Covenant  (1849-51),  some  of 
which  were  translated  into  English,  rapidly  affected  thought 
in  Great  Britain  and  more  slowly  in  our  own  country.  These 
were  epoch-making  books,  and  their  power  lay  in  their  con- 
structive character  and  their  freshness  of  treatment,  by  which 
doubtless  many  were  carried  forward  who  were  loath  to  accept 
his  theories  in  their  entirety. 

A  new  stage  of  investigation  had  been  reached  in  1861  when 
Abraham  Kuenen's  work  began  to  appear.  This  marked  the 
"beginning  of  the  modern  period  of  Higher  Criticism.  Analysis, 
minute  and  searching,  often  arbitrary  and  one-sided,  but  pains- 


38  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

taking  and  thorough,  was  the  distinctive  feature  of  the  sixties. 
The  hypotheses  of  Kuenen,  Graf,  and  Wellhausen  made  men  at 
first  view  pause  aghast.  The  far-sighted  ones  saw  from  the  outset 
what  a  change  in  view-points  for  the  whole  history  was  involved 
in  the  acceptance  of  these  revolutionary  theories  for  the  Hexa- 
teuch.  In  Germany  the  Grafian  positions  held  the  center  of  the 
field,  in  Great  Britain  twenty  years  were  passed  before  they  won 
their  way  to  the  front;  but  in  1881  the  works  of  Robertson 
Smith  for  the  first  time  rendered  accessible  to  the  English-speak- 
ing world  the  actual  results  of  Old  Testament  Criticism.  The 
Old  Testament  in  the  Jewish  Church  (1881),  The  Prophets  of 
Israel  and  their  Place  in  Jewish  History  (1882),  besides  articles 
in  the  Encyclopedia  Britannica,  were  brilliant  presentations  of 
the  new  views.  They  did  for  England  and  America  what  Ewald 
had  done  in  Germany  forty  years  before ;  and  though  the  appli- 
cation of  new  methods  was  slow  and  the  acceptance  of  new  re- 
sults cautious  and  even  timid,  Cheyne  and  Driver  in  the  eighties 
were  among  those  who  were  already  presenting  in  commentaries 
and  similar  writings  a  treatment  of  Old  Testament  problems  and 
an  explanation  of  Old  Testament  facts  which  proceeded  upon 
the  basis  of  the  critical  work  of  their  immediate  predecessors 
and  contemporaries  in  Germany. 

In  America  opposition  was  the  rule;  strong  men  held  back 
the  movement,  and  by  conservatism  prevented  too  rapid  an  ab- 
sorption of  the  newer  ideas,  and  enabled  young  scholars  to  weigh 
and  test  the  theories  that  were  presented  for  their  acceptance. 
But  the  influence  of  the  struggle  was  manifest.  A  series  like 
that  of  the  Cambridge  Bible  for  Schools  and  Colleges,  begun  in 
the  eighties,  preserves  almost  in  a  stratified  form  a  picture  of  the 
movement.  Men  of  different  schools  of  exegetical  thought  are 
there  represented,  and  the  contrast  between  the  points  of  view 
of  some  of  the  volumes  is  marked  and  unmistakable.  The 
Expositor's  Bible,  with  many  volumes  which  owe  their  brilliance 
and  power  to  the  stimulus  received  from  the  new  view  of  Israel's 
history  and  of  the  worth  of  the  Prophets,  testifies  to  the  vision  of 
imperishable  truth  which  our  generation  had  gained. 

Following  in  the  wake  of  the  great  critical  movement,  and  inter- 
preting its  results,  are  two  important  German  commentaries, 
the  product  of  the  last  quarter-century.  The  Handkommentar 
zum  Alten  Testament,  edited  by  W.  Nowack,  and  the  Kurzer 


EXEGESIS    OF   THE    OLD   TESTAMENT         39 

Hand-commentar  zum  Alien  Teslamenl,  edited  by  Karl  Marti, 
number  among  their  contributors  the  leading  scholars  of  Ger- 
many. The  greatest  critical  work  that  has  appeared  in  modern 
times  is  the  Inlernalional  Critical  Commefitary,  edited  by  C.  A. 
Briggs,  S.  R.  Driver,  and  Alfred  Plummer,  the  first  volume, 
"  Deuteronomy,"  appearing  in  1895.  The  successive  volumes 
embody  the  results  of  the  best  historical,  critical,  and  archaeo- 
logical methods  of  the  age,  and  even  antiquate  and  relegate 
to  obscurity  many  polemic  and  apologetic  works  of  the  last  half- 
century.  There  are  still  needed  popular  commentaries  of  a  con- 
structive type  which  will  be  available  for  those  who  are  not 
technical  scholars.  Such  a  series  as  the  Westminster  Commenta- 
ries (Driver's  Genesis,  1904)  is  meeting  this  need,  and  others  will 
follow.  Special  discussions  and  individual  commentaries  fol- 
low the  lines  of  controversy  or  mark  the  focal  points  of  discussion. 
The  Hexateuch  has  been  the  storm-center  ever  since  the  be- 
ginning of  the  nineteenth  century.  No  adequate  commentary 
on  the  Hexateuch,  however,  has  yet  appeared  in  English,  but 
discussions  in  periodicals  have  been  numerous,  while  mono- 
graphs and  large  sections  in  Biblical  introductions  testify  to  the 
high  estimate  of  the  subject's  importance  and  to  the  keen  ap- 
preciation of  the  necessity  of  investigation  and  thorough  debate 
before  comprehensive  work  is  attempted. 

The  Psalms  from  the  nature  of  their  contents  have  received 
a  large  amount  of  attention.  German,  English,  and  American 
scholars  have  added  greatly  to  our  knowledge  of  their  meaning. 

The  Prophets  have  in  an  important  sense  been  discovered 
within  our  period  of  seventy-five  years.  Beginning  with  Ewald, 
the  task  of  their  exposition  was  somewhat  tardily  taken  up  anew 
after  1875  in  England  and  America;  and  now,  not  only  is  Isaiah 
interpreted  and  understood  as  never  before,  but  Amos  andHosea, 
his  companions  of  the  eighth  century,  and  the  entire  galaxy  of 
the  Twelve,  have  emerged  from  darkness  illuminated  by  the 
work  of  our  foremost  scholars.  The  brilliant  contributions  of 
W.  R.  Smith  particularly  have  helped  to  make  the  last  quarter- 
century  an  epoch. 

What  has  been  the  basis  and  motive  power  of  this  great  ad- 
vance in  Biblical  study  ?  At  the  foundation  of  it  all  is  the  tre- 
mendous intellectual  awakening  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The 
mind  and  imagination,  stimulated  as  never  before  by  the  great 


40  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

agencies  for  production  and  investigation,  have  not  been  satis- 
fied with  past  achievements  in  any  department.  Linguistic 
studies  have  received  an  impetus  from  the  discoveries  in  Egypt 
and  Western  Asia,  and  grammar  and  lexicography  have  de- 
veloped with  unprecedented  rapidity.  The  breaking  of  the 
seals  of  the  book  of  ancient  history  has  stirred  a  new  interest 
in  the  Biblical  records,  and  the  materials  which  have  been  ac- 
cumulated for  a  first-hand  investigation  of  the  history  and 
growth  of  religion  have  given  birth  to  Historical  and  Literary 
Criticism  and  Biblical  Theology.  The  Bible,  and  theories  about 
it,  being  thrust  into  immediate  contact  and  comparison  with  the 
new  science,  men  who  love  the  Bible  and  believe  in  it  have  been 
compelled  to  study  it  anew  to  determine  whether  it  can  meet  the 
modern  scientific  tests,  or  whether  it  is  really  understood  by 
those  who  speak  against  it.  Instead  of  being  destructive  in 
effect  or  derogatory  in  intention,  the  wonderful  increase  in  Bib- 
lical study  and  the  prolific  production  of  exegetical  work  have 
been  a  great  apologetic,  which  have  forced  upon  the  modern 
world  the  recognition  of  the  Bible,  and  have  demanded  that  its 
contents  and  its  teaching  be  reckoned  with.  Hence  colleges 
and  universities  which  twenty-five  years  ago  never  thought  to 
place  it  in  their  curricula,  or  treated  it  with  ill-concealed  con- 
tempt, now  include  it  and  provide  for  adequate  instruction,  de- 
manding only  that  it  be  taught  scientifically,  while  we  insist  that 
it  be  considered  fairly,  rationally,  and  systematically. 

Several  significant  elements  have  further  contributed  to  this 
great  result :  first,  a  new  translation  of  the  Bible.  On  June  30, 
1870,  a  work  was  begun  in  the  Jerusalem  Chamber  of  West- 
minster Abbey,  which  went  on  quietly  and  almost  unnoticed 
for  fourteen  years,  and  yet  was  full  of  significance  for  the  entire 
English-speaking  religious  world.  This  was  the  Revision  of 
the  King  James  Version.  The  Old  Testament  was  completed 
June  20,  1884,  and  fitly  closed  this  period  of  discussion,  struggle, 
and  reconstruction,  and  began  the  new  age  of  advance  and 
construction.  The  last  third  of  our  seventy-five-year  period 
(i 884-1 909)  might  well  be  styled  the  period  of  Bible  translation, 
for  the  English  Revision  of  1895  was  followed  by  fourteen  years 
of  careful  reworking  of  the  material  collected  by  the  American 
Revisers,  culminating  in  the  American  Revision  of  1901,  which 
is  taking  its  place  as  the  standard  English  version. 


EXEGESIS    OF   THE    OLD   TESTAMENT         41 

The  second  cause  of  progress  in  America  has  been  the  per- 
sonal influence  of  one  man.  President  WilHam  R.  Harper,  by 
his  creative  enthusiasm,  raised  the  study  of  Hebrew  and  cognate 
languages  to  a  position  never  occupied  before.  The  interest 
awakened  by  him  has  been  permanent,  and  his  influence  upon 
popular  as  well  as  upon  scientific  studies  is  marked  and  abiding. 
Biblical  scholarship  in  this  country  owes  him  a  debt  which  can 
never  be  repaid. 

A  third  element  in  the  great  advance  has  been  the  spell  of  the 
Orient.  Assyriology,  though  not  a  new  science  in  1885,  re- 
vealed treasures  which  lured  many  of  our  best  young  scholars  to 
further  pursuit.  Exegetical  science  felt  the  stimulus,  and  our 
commentaries   are  richer  thereby. 

Thus  from  1884  to  1909,  with  a  new  version  of  the  Bible  which 
provoked  inquiry  by  the  newness  of  its  phraseology,  with  bril- 
liant coteries  of  scholars  trained  in  the  best  methods  of  investi- 
gation, enormous  strides  have  been  made  toward  more  perfect 
elucidation  of  Biblical  problems.  Works  like  the  Messages  of 
the  Bible,  by  Sanders  and  Kent,  and  The  Student's  Old  Testa- 
ment by  Kent,  mark  the  new  trend.  The  syntactical  method  of 
our  best  commentaries,  and  the  growing  appreciation  of  Hebrew 
metric,  are  the  fruitage  of  decades  of  toil.  Budde,  in  1882, 
and  Briggs  have  been  pioneers  in  what  seems  to  be  really  the 
finally  won,  though  not  fully  explored,  realm  of  Hebrew 
poetry. 

The  periodical,  devoted  exclusively  to  exegetical  and  ex- 
pository research,  is  to  a  large  degree  the  product  of  the  last 
twenty-five  years.  The  Biblical  World  spans  the  quarter-cen- 
tury. The  Expository  Times  is  one  of  its  offspring,  and  the 
Expositor  has  had  a  long  and  brilliant  history  extending  back 
into  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  Journal  of 
Biblical  Literature  has  also  had  a  career  of  increasing  usefulness 
during  this  period. 

The  Bible  Dictionary  is  another  great  product.  Smith  was 
long  the  only  authority,  but  in  1899  the  Encyclopcedia  Biblica 
appeared,  and  in  the  same  year  Hastings'  Dictionary  of  the 
Bible.  Biblical  articles  of  importance  are  found  in  all  the 
leading  Encyclopedias,  and  the  Standard  Bible  Dictionary, 
edited  by  Jacobus,  Nourse,  and  Zenos  (1909),  shows  how  far 
results,  considered  but  a  short  time  ago  hypothetical  and  prob- 


42  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

lematic,  have  been  assimilated  and  made  the  basis  for  progres- 
sive and  constructive  work. 

From  the  preceding  rapid  survey  we  are  able  to  divide  the 
three  quarters  of  a  century  from  1834  to  1909  into  three  periods 
of  twenty-five  years  each.  These  periods  present  certain  distinc- 
tive features  which  may  be  briefly  summarized.  As  in  all  or- 
ganic development,  factors  which  were  subordinate  at  one  time 
come  forth  into  great  prominence  at  a  later  date,  while  there  are 
great  determining  features  characteristic  of  all  the  periods. 

In  the  first  period  of  twenty-five  years,  extending  from  1834  to 
1859,  the  foundations  for  all  future  advance  were  laid.  Gram- 
mar and  Lexicography,  Old  Testament  Criticism  and  Biblical 
Theology,  added  the  elements  of  certainty  and  vitality  which 
rescued  Exegesis  from  dialectic  scholasticism.  Exploration  and 
discovery  made  the  Oriental  world  real  and  brought  the  past 
into  our  field  of  vision.  The  decipherment  of  cuneiform  in- 
scriptions was  begun,  and  a  new  apologetic  was  created.  The 
great  comprehensive  and  popular  modem  commentary  came 
into  being.     It  was  a  period  of  awakening. 

The  second  period,  from  1859  to  1883,  was  one  of  readjust- 
ment and  reconstruction.  The  comprehensive  commentaries 
already  projected  in  the  preceding  decades  were  completed,  en- 
tered upon  new  editions,  and  were  followed  by  other  great  works. 
It  was  the  age  of  Criticism,  when  rival  theories  contended  for 
the  mastery.  The  monographic  treatment  of  various  exegetical 
subjects  made  the  discoveries  and  conclusions  of  scholarship 
yearly  more  available. 

The  third  period,  from  1884  to  1898,  was  one  of  assimilation 
and  construction.  It  witnessed  the  completion  of  long-continued 
labors  for  Bible  Revision  in  Germany,  England,  and  America. 
Oriental  lands  and  Western  Asia  particularly  yielded  their  richest 
treasures  to  the  Bible  student.  This  was  the  age  of  the  journal 
devoted  exclusively  to  Biblical  subjects  and  of  the  Bible  diction- 
ary. Each  of  these  has  had  predecessors,  but  the  degree  of  per- 
fection now  reached  shows  an  advance  both  in  technique  and 
in  constructive  ability  which  bears  witness  to  the  depth  and 
thoroughness  of  the  work  of  the  seventy-five  years  which  have 
now  come  to  a  close. 


HIGHER   CRITICISM   OF  THE   OLD 
TESTAMENT 

Professor  Lewis  Bayles  Paton,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

Hartford  Theological  Seminary 

Prior  to  the  year  1834  higher  criticism  of  the  Old  Testament 
had  already  passed  through  three  main  stages  of  development, 
(i)  Through  the  investigations  of  Hobbes  (1651),  de  la  Peyrere 
(1653),  Spinoza  (1671),  Simon  (1672),  le  Clerc  (1685),  doubt 
had  been  thrown  upon  the  Mosaic  authorship  of  the  Pentateuch, 
and  traditional  theories  of  the  date  and  authorship  of  the  other 
books  had  been  called  in  question.  (2)  The  inductive  method 
of  research,  first  formulated  for  the  natural  sciences  by  Francis 
Bacon  (1620),  had  been  applied  to  classical  literature  by  Bentley 
(1699),  and  then  to  the  Old  Testament  by  Carpzov  (1714-21), 
Wolf  (1721-33),  Parvish  (1739),  and  Lowth  (1753).  (3)  The 
analysis  of  the  Pentateuch  and  Joshua  into  their  literary  con- 
stituents had  been  effected  in  the  main  correctly.  Astruc 
(1753)  divided  Genesis  into  two  documents  on  the  basis  of  the 
alternation  of  the  divine  names  Jehovah  and  Elohim.  Eichhorn 
(1780)  made  independently  a  similar,  but  more  accurate  analysis 
of  Genesis.  Geddes  (1792)  and  Vater  (1802)  called  attention  to 
the  lack  of  unity  in  the  rest  of  the  Pentateuch,  but  did  not  ad- 
vance beyond  the  theory  that  it  was  composed  out  of  isolated 
fragments.  Ilgen  (1798)  made  the  important  discovery  that 
there  are  two  writers  in  Genesis  who  call  God  Elohim.  De 
Wette  (1806)  recognized  the  independence  of  Deuteronomy 
from  the  rest  of  the  Pentateuch,  and  proved  that  it  was  the  law- 
book discovered  in  the  Temple  in  the  reign  of  Josiah.  Bleek 
(1822)  established  the  fact  that  Joshua  is  an  integral  part  of  the 
Pentateuch,  and  so  originated  the  name  Hexateuch.  Ewald 
(183 1 )  showed  that  the  documentary  analysis  of  Genesis  is 
justified  by  the  statement  of  Ex.  6^  and  that  this  analysis  can 
be  carried  through  the  rest  of  the  Pentateuch  and  the  Book  of 
Joshua. 

43 


44  RECENT  CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

By  the  year  1834  the  analysis  of  the  Hexateuch  was  practically 
complete,  and  great  progress  had  been  made  in  the  analysis 
of  the  historical,  prophetical,  and  poetical  books.  Little  had 
been  accomplished,  however,  for  the  determination  of  the  true 
dates  of  the  constituent  elements.  It  was  commonly  assumed  that 
P  (the  First  Elohist,  or  Priestly  Code)  was  the  earliest  docu- 
ment of  the  Hexateuch,  because  it  furnished  the  first  chapter  of 
Genesis,  and  because  it  was  the  framework  of  the  entire  narrative. 
This  was  a  fundamental  error  that  prevented  a  historical  con- 
ception of  the  growth  of  Hebrew  literature.  So  long  as  it  pre- 
vailed, the  analysis  of  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament  remained 
a  fruitless  exhibition  of  critical  acumen. 

A  new  era  in  the  higher  criticism  of  the  Old  Testament  was 
inaugurated  in  1834  through  the  recognition  by  Eduard  Reuss, 
then  a  young  Privatdocent  in  the  University  of  Strassburg,  that 
the  Priestly  legislation  of  Exodus,  Leviticus,  and  Numbers  is 
the  latest  portion  of  the  Pentateuch.  To  him  it  seemed  incom- 
prehensible that  the  elaborate  regulations  of  the  Levitical  code 
should  have  appeared  at  the  beginning  of  the  Hebrew  religion, 
and,  if  they  were  ancient,  that  the  early  histories  and  the  pre- 
exilic  prophets  should  know  nothing  about  them.  All  attempts 
to  explain  the  Old  Testament  on  this  basis  resulted  in  cumber- 
some and  improbable  hypotheses.  It  appeared  to  him,  there- 
fore, that  the  simplest  solution  of  the  difficulty  was  to  revise 
the  current  idea  of  the  age  of  P.  Just  as  Copernicus  simplified 
astronomy  by  supposing  that  the  sun,  not  the  earth,  was  the  center 
of  the  solar  system,  so  Reuss  simplified  Old  Testament  criticism 
by  supposing  that  the  Priestly  Code  was  later,  instead  of  earlier, 
than  the  Prophets.  This  theory  was  as  revolutionary  in  criticism 
as  the  Copernican  theory  was  in  science,  and  Reuss  did  not  dare 
at  first  to  print  it,  although  he  communicated  it  to  his  students 
in  his  university  lectures.  One  of  these  students  was  K.  H.  Graf, 
through  whom  the  new  idea  was  subsequently  given  currency. 

It  often  happens  that  a  great  scientific  discovery  is  made 
almost  contemporaneously  by  a  number  of  independent  workers. 
This  was  the  case  with  the  new  theory  of  the  Pentateuch. 
What  Reuss  detected  by  the  method  of  inductive  reasoning, 
Wilhelm  Vatke  divined  by  the  method  of  philosophical  specula- 
tion. In  1835  he  published  his  Biblische  Theologie,  which  was 
an  attempt  to  explain  the  religion  of  Israel  from  the  stand- 


HIGHER    CRITICISM    OF    OLD    TESTAMENT     45 

point  of  Hegelian  philosophy.  The  book  was  cumbered  with 
technical  phraseology,  and  was  written  with  such  a  decided 
Hegelian  bias  as  to  be  almost  useless  for  one  who  was  not  an 
adherent  of  the  Hegelian  school;  nevertheless  it  grasped  cor- 
rectly the  fact  that  development  is  the  fundamental  law  in  re- 
ligion, as  in  thought  and  life  in  general.  Arranging  the  docu- 
ments of  the  Old  Testament  in  the  order  demanded  by  logic, 
Vatke  reached  the  same  conclusions  that  had  been  reached 
already  by  Reuss ;  namely,  that  the  Law  is  later  than  the  Proph- 
ets, and  that  the  Psalms  are  later  than  both. 

In  the  same  year  J.  F.  L.  George  published  his  treatise  on 
Die  dlteren  jiidischen  Feste.  Starting  from  the  same  Hegelian 
standpoint  as  Vatke,  he  concluded  that  the  simple  festal  legis- 
lation of  the  Book  of  the  Covenant  (Ex,  21-23  and  Ex.  34)  must 
be  earlier  than  the  more  elaborate  provisions  of  Deuteronomy, 
and  that  Deuteronomy  in  its  turn  must  be  earlier  than  the  still 
more  elaborate  enactments  of  the  Priestly  Code.  This  a  priori 
assumption  he  fortified  with  a  number  of  solid  historical  argu- 
ments, many  of  which  still  retain  their  validity.  The  abstract 
philosophic  form  of  presentation  affected  both  by  Vatke  and 
George,  and  the  apparent  dependence  of  their  theories  upon  the 
truth  of  the  Hegelian  philosophy,  prevented  their  views  from 
gaining  at  the  time  any  wide  currency.  Conservative  and 
liberal  critics  alike  agreed  in  denouncing  their  revolutionary 
treatment  of  the  history  of  the  Hebrew  religion,  Reuss  still  re- 
frained from  printing  his  views,  and  the  current  hypothesis 
that  P  was  the  Grundschrift,  or  "  Fundamental  Document,"  re- 
mained unshaken. 

For  the  next  thirty  years  Heinrich  Ewald  was  the  dominant 
personality  in  Old  Testament  Criticism.  His  monumental 
work,  the  Geschichte  des  Volkes  Israel  (1843-52),  sums  up  the 
results  of  the  period  of  criticism  closing  with  1834,  For  him, 
and  for  his  numerous  followers,  P  remained  the  Grundschrift 
of  the  Hexateuch.  In  1853  Hupfeld  established  Ilgen's  dis- 
covery of  the  Second  Elohist,  and  perfected  the  analysis  of  the 
Hexateuch  into  its  four  constituents  P,  J,  E,  D,  but  he  also  held 
fast  to  the  traditional  dating  of  the  documents.  As  late  as  1861 
Abraham  Kuenen,  in  the  first  edition  of  the  first  volume  of  his 
Historisch-critisch  onderzoek,  maintained  substantially  Ewald's 
view  of  the  priority  of  P. 


46  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

In  1862  J.  W.  Colenso,  Missionary  Bishop  of  Natal,  electrified 
the  English-speaking  world  by  the  publication  of  the  first  volume 
of  his  elaborate  work,  The  Pentateuch  and  Book  of  Joshua 
Critically  Examined.  This  work  grew  out  of  the  practical 
difficulties  of  its  author  as  a  teacher  on  the  mission  field.  His 
Zulu  boys  were  constantly  asking  him  in  regard  to  the  truth  of 
the  stories  of  the  Pentateuch,  and  he  was  unable  to  answer  their 
questions.  Resolving  to  study  into  the  matter,  he  found  nothing 
in  English  theological  literature  to  help  him,  and  so  turned  to 
Germany  for  aid.  Here  he  found  much  information  in  regard 
to  the  composition  of  the  Hexateuch,  but  no  satisfactory  dis- 
cussion of  its  historical  character.  Accordingly,  he  set  himself 
to  investigate  this  problem  afresh.  In  his  first  volume  he  points 
out  a  large  number  of  historical  difficulties  in  the  middle  books 
of  the  Pentateuch.  Nearly  all  of  these  are  found  in  P,  yet  it 
does  not  occur  to  him  to  ask  how  this  document,  which  is 
supposed  to  be  the  oldest,  can  be  the  least  historical  of  the 
Pentateuchal  records. 

Attention  was  first  called  to  this  question  by  K.  H.  Graf's 
epoch-making  treatise  on  Die  geschichtlichen  Bilcher  des  Alten 
Testaments  (1865).  In  this  work  Deuteronomy  is  made  the 
starting  point  of  the  investigation.  Its  independence  of  the 
rest  of  the  Hexateuch  is  proved,  and  its  identity  with  the  law- 
book discovered  in  the  reign  of  Josiah  is  demonstrated.  Evi- 
dence is  then  brought  to  show  that  it  must  have  been  written 
shortly  before  its  discovery.  A  fixed  basis  is  thus  found  for  the 
criticism  of  the  other  Hexateuchal  documents.  Graf  then  in- 
quires what  portions  of  the  middle  books  of  the  Pentateuch  are 
presupposed  by  D,  and  discovers  that  the  JE  sections  are  con- 
stantly cited,  but  that  the  P  sections  are  not  mentioned.  He 
next  examines  the  institutions  of  D  and  of  P  in  comparison  with 
the  Books  of  Judges,  Samuel,  and  Kings,  with  the  result  of 
establishing  the  priority  of  D  in  every  case.  Chronicles,  which 
stands  alone  in"  its  testimony  to  the  existence  of  the  Priestly 
legislation  before  the  Exile,  is  subjected  to  a  searching  critique, 
which  shows  that  its  testimony  is  unreliable  over  against  that 
of  the  earlier  historical  books.  Thus  the  conclusion  is 
reached  that  the  Priestly  legislation  was  first  promulgated  by 
Ezra  in  the  assembly  described  in  Neh.  8,  This  late  date  is 
assigned  only  to  the  legislation  of  the  middle  books;  in  regard 


HIGHER    CRITICISM    OF    OLD    TESTAMENT     47 

to  the  narratives  of  the  Hexateuch  the  view  is  retained  that  P  is 
the  earliest  document.  Thus  Graf  developed  and  presented  to 
the  world  in  scientific  form  the  idea  that  he  had  received  as 
a  pupil  of  Reuss  in  1834. 

In  1862  Colenso's  book  came  into  the  hands  of  Kuenen  and  at 
onceraised  the  query,  which  had  failed  to  suggest  itself  toColenso, 
whether  P  could  be  the  earliest  document  of  the  Hexateuch. 
A  work  by  J.  Popper  on  Der  hihlische  Bericht  fiber  die  Stiftshiitte 
also  appeared  in  1862  and  presented  new  difficulties  in  the 
theory  of  the  antiquity  of  P.  All  these  considerations  were 
leading  Kuenen  to  the  view  that  the  Priestly  legislation  was  late, 
when  Graf's  treatise  appeared.  Its  irrefutable  logic  crystallized 
his  own  opinion,  and  without  further  hesitation  he  adopted  the 
idea  that  the  Priestly  legislation  of  the  middle  books  is  post- 
Deuteronomic.  He  was  unable,  however,  to  follow  Graf  in 
splitting  the  Priestly  document  into  two  sections,  a  narrative 
and  a  legislative,  the  former  of  which  is  early,  while  the  latter  is 
late.  A  close  examination  showed  that  the  narrative  and  the 
legislative  sections  are  homogeneous  in  language  and  in  theology; 
consequently,  either  the  legislative  sections  must  be  brought 
back  to  the  date  of  the  narratives,  or  the  narratives  must  be 
brought  forward  to  the  date  of  the  legislation.  This  conclusion 
he  communicated  to  Graf  in  a  letter  which  convinced  him  of  its 
correctness.  Shortly  before  his  death  in  1869,  Graf  revised  his 
theory,  maintaining  the  unity  of  the  Priestly  document,  and 
dating  its  narratives  and  its  legislation  alike  after  the  Exile. 
Thus  the  modern  theory  of  the  age  of  the  Hexateuchal  docu- 
ments received  its  perfected  form. 

In  the  second  and  third  volumes  of  his  Historisch-critisch 
onderzoek  (1863-65)  Kuenen  defended  the  new  conception.  In 
1868  Kosters  showed  that  D  knows  neither  the  narrative  nor 
the  legislative  portions  of  P.  In  1869  de  Goeje  argued  against 
the  theory  that  P  is  an  esoteric  document,  which  may  have 
been  in  existence,  even  though  it  is  never  cited  in  the  prcexilic 
period ;  and  claimed  that  there  is  no  need  of  this  theory 
until  it  is  first  established  that  P  was  in  existence  before  the 
Exile.  In  his  Godsdienst  van  Israel  (1869-70)  Kuenen  presented 
the  Reuss-Grafian  theory  with  great  elaborateness,  and  showed 
that  it  is  the  key  to  the  understanding  of  the  historical  develop- 
ment of  the  Hebrew  religion.     August  Kayser  (1874)  attempted 


4S  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

by  purely  literary  methods  of  comparing  words  and  phrases  to 
prove  that  the  historical  order  of  the  documents  is  J,  D,  P. 
Paul  de  Lagarde  also,  from  1864  onward,  in  university  lectures 
and  published  works,  argued  for  the  late  date  of  P.  It  remained, 
however,  for  Julius  Wellhausen  in  his  remarkable  work.  Pro- 
legomena zur  Geschichte  Israels  (1875),  to  give  the  Grafian 
theory  such  a  brilliant  demonstration  that  since  that  time  it 
has  been  generally  accepted  by  Old  Testament  scholars.  In  this 
work  he  shows  in  five  representative  cases,  the  place  of  worship, 
the  sacrifices,  the  feasts,  the  priests  and  Levites,  and  the  endow- 
ment of  the  clergy,  that  the  order  of  development  of  the  Hebrew 
codes  is  always  J,  E,  Deuteronomy,  the  Holiness  Code  (Lev. 
17-26),  Ezekiel,  and  P;  and  that  this  order  of  literary  develop- 
ment is  also  the  order  in  which  we  find  the  institutions  appearing 
in  history.  The  teaching  of  JE  is  that  of  the  early  histories  and 
of  the  Prophets  before  Jeremiah,  the  teaching  of  Deuteronomy 
first  appears  in  Jeremiah  and  the  editorial  framework  of  Kings, 
the  Holiness  Code  is  first  known  to  Ezekiel,  and  in  Ezekiel  the 
bridge  is  found  from  Deuteronomy  to  the  Priestly  Code.  This 
is  followed  by  a  critique  of  the  other  historical  books  of  the  Old 
Testament  in  their  relation  to  the  Hexateuch,  and  a  sketch  of 
the  development  of  the  Law  in  the  post-exilic  period.  Sub- 
sequently, in  his  Composition  des  Hexateuchs  und  der  histo- 
rischen  BUcher  (1876-77),  Wellhausen  gave  new  precision  to  the 
analysis  of  the  Hexateuch,  particularly  to  the  discrimination  of 
the  J  and  E  sources,  and  also  showed  that  Judges,  Samuel,  and 
Kings  are  composed  in  a  similar  manner  to  the  Hexateuch  by 
a  weaving  together  of  parallel  Judaean  and  Ephraimitic  histories 
in  a  Deuteronomic  framework. 

The  new  conception  of  the  development  of  the  religion  and  the 
literature  of  Israel  was  naturally  not  accepted  without  a  conflict. 
Ewald  and  the  school  of  critics  that  he  had  raised  up  opposed  it 
fiercely,  Schrader,  Knobel,  Dillmann,  and  Riehm  had  already 
committed  themselves  to  the  older  view,  and  continued  to  main- 
tain it  so  long  as  they  lived.  All  did  good  service  in  clearing 
up  details  of  the  analysis  and  in  contributing  to  the  solutiorL. 
of  many  of  the  historical  problems.  Opposition  was  also  en- 
countered from  the  reactionary  school  of  Hengstenberg  (I83I- 
39),  who  turned  his  arms  with  equal  energy  against  both  Ewald 
and  Vatke,  and  tried  to  defend  the  traditional  theory  of  the  Old 


HIGHER   CRITICISM    OF    OLD    TESTAMENT     49 

Testament  by  methods  of  modern  critical  science.  He  was  fol- 
lowed by  H.  A.  C.  Haevernick  (1836-39),  C.  F.  Keil  (1853),  and 
W.  H.  Green  (1882-95).  Although  these  critics  made  no  posi- 
tive contribution  to  Old  Testament  study,  they  rendered  impor- 
tant service  in  calling  attention  to  weak  spots  in  their  opponents' 
theories.  They  also  familiarized  British  and  American  students 
with  the  methods  of  higher  criticism,  which  they  would  have  been 
unwilling  to  accept  in  a  less  conservative  dress.  In  England  no 
critical  literature  of  any  sort  on  the  Old  Testament  appeared  after 
Geddes  (1792)  until  Colenso  (1862).  Colenso's  work  called 
forth  a  storm  of  ridicule,  scorn,  and  denunciation  that  to  us  of 
this  day  seems  almost  incredible,  yet  his  work  accomplished  the 
result  of  setting  people  thinking,  and  so  paved  the  way  for  better 
times  to  come.  In  1857  Professor  Samuel  Davidson  was  ex- 
pelled from  Manchester  College,  England,  for  teaching  the 
new  critical  views  of  the  Old  Testament.  In  1879  the  same  fate 
befell  Professor  C.  H.  Toy  at  Greenville  Seminary,  South  Caro- 
lina. In  1881  W.  Robertson  Smith  was  removed  from  his 
chair  in  the  Free  Church  College  of  Aberdeen,  Scotland,  for 
teaching  the  views  of  Wellhausen.  In  1891  Professor  C.  A. 
Briggs  was  deposed  from  the  ministry  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America  for  holding  the  same 
views,  and  in  1892  Professor  H.  P.  Smith  was  condemned  in  a 
similar  manner  and  lost  his  professorate.  The  latest  victim 
is  Professor  H.  G.  Mitchell,  who  in  1907  was  ejected  by  the 
Bishops  of  the  Methodist  Church  from  his  chair  in  Boston 
University. 

In  spite  of  these  assaults,  by  argument  in  Germany,  and  by 
ecclesiastical  trials  in  Great  Britain  and  America,  the  modern 
views  have  triumphed  all  long  the  line.  The  old  opponents  of 
the  Reuss-Grafian  theory  have  nearly  all  died,  or  have  come 
over  to  the  new  way  of  thinking.  In  all  the  universities  of 
Germany,  Holland,  Switzerland,  France,  Scotland,  England, 
and  America  this  theory  is  now  established  as  firmly  as  is  the 
Copernican  theory  of  the  solar  system.  The  same  is  true  of 
the  majority  of  the  independent  Protestant  theological  schools 
both  in  the  Old  and  in  the  New  World.  Even  among  liberal 
Roman  Catholics  "Modernism"  has  found  wide  acceptance. 
Only  among  strict  Roman  Catholics,  and  in  other  denominations 
where  ecclesiastical  authority  prevails,  are  the  traditional  theories 


50  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

in  regard  to  the  Old  Testament  still  maintained.  Younger 
scholars  throughout  the  world  are  all  on  the  side  of  the  new  views, 
and  all  the  introductions,  histories  of  Israel,  Biblical  theologies, 
and  dictionaries  of  the  Bible  that  have  appeared  during  the  last 
ten  years  have  unhesitatingly  adopted  the  Grafian  position. 
It  appears,  accordingly,  that  we  stand  at  the  conclusion  of  a  great 
epoch  of  Old  Testament  research.  During  the  seventy-five 
years  that  have  elapsed  since  1834  the  arrangement  of  the  lit- 
erature of  the  Old  Testament  in  a  historical  order  has  reached 
practically  a  final  form.  There  will  doubtless  be  readjustments 
at  certain  points,  but  there  is  no  reason  to  think  that  the  funda- 
mental tenets  of  the  dominant  school  of  criticism  will  ever  be 
materially  modified. 

Meanwhile  there  are  many  signs  that  we  are  entering  upon  a 
new  period  in  the  study  of  the  Old  Testament.  Now  that  the 
documents  have  been  recognized  and  their  dates  have  been  de- 
termined, the  question  is  unavoidable,  whence  did  the  tradi- 
tions come  that  have  been  incorporated  into  the  various  docu- 
ments? It  was  formerly  supposed  that  ancient  Israel  was 
isolated  from  the  surrounding  nations,  and  that  the  traditions 
embodied  in  the  Hexateuch  and  other  historical  books  were 
either  brought  in  from  the  desert,  or  were  developed  after  the 
conquest  of  Canaan.  There  might  be  room  for  question 
whether  some  of  the  stories  referred  to  incidents  in  the  lives 
of  the  forefathers,  or  to  experiences  of  the  nation  or  its  tribes; 
but  there  was  no  question  that  all  of  the  traditions  were  genuinely 
Hebrew.  Within  the  last  quarter-century  the  problem  has  been 
given  a  new  aspect  by  archaeological  researches  in  Babylonia, 
Assyria,  Egypt,  and  Palestine,  and  by  the  deciphering  of  the 
inscriptions  discovered  in  these  countries.  In  1872  George 
Smith  published  the  famous  Babylonian  Flood  Story,  which 
bears  so  close  a  resemblance  to  the  Biblical  narrative.  In  the 
same  year  the  first  edition  of  Schrader's  Keilinschriften  und  das 
Alte  Testament  appeared.  Since  then,  through  the  labors  of 
Delitzsch,  Sayce,  Pinches,  Hommel,  Jensen,  Winckler,  Zimmern, 
and  many  others,  a  vast  amount  of  Babylonian  mythological 
material  has  been  unearthed,  that  bears  a  more  or  less  close  con- 
nection with  the  traditions  of  Genesis.  Egyptian  and  Canaan- 
itish  archaeology  have  also  disclosed  points  of  contact.  It  has 
gradually  become  clear  that,   instead  of  leading  an  isolated 


HIGHER   CRITICISM    OF    OLD   TESTAMENT     51 

existence,  Israel  lay  in  the  very  center  of  the  ancient  world  and 
was  exposed  to  foreign  influences  from  every  quarter.  In  the 
mass  of  traditions  that  go  to  make  up  the  Hcxateuch  we  can  now 
detect  not  only  old  Hebrew  elements  brought  in  from  the  desert, 
and  late  Hebrew  elements  developed  in  the  land  of  Canaan,  but 
also  Babylonian,  Egyptian,  and  Canaanite  elements.  The  prob- 
lem now  confronting  the  Old  Testament  critic  is  the  determina- 
tion of  the  extent  to  which  each  of  these  classes  of  traditions  is 
represented.  The  tendency  at  present  is  to  make  everything 
Babylonian,  and  to  interpret  the  stories  of  the  Patriarchs,  and 
even  of  the  Judges,  early  Kings,  and  Prophets,  as  transformed 
Babylonian  nature  myths.  This  view  is  doubtless  untenable; 
still  it  seems  clear  that  we  must  make  more  allowance  for  Baby- 
lonian influence  in  the  Hebrew  religion  than  we  have  been  ac- 
customed to  do.  How  far  we  must  go  in  this  direction,  however, 
and  how  much  we  must  ascribe  to  primitive  Hebrew,  Egyptian, 
or  Canaanite  sources,  still  remains  a  problem  to  whose  solution 
the  energy  of  the  next  generation  must  be  devoted. 


ORIENTAL  AND   OLD   TESTAMENT   HISTORY 

Professor  Lewis  Bayles  Paton,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

Hartford  Theological  Seminary 

During  the  last  seventy-five  years  our  knowledge  of  the  an- 
cient Orient  has  expanded  with  extraordinary  rapidity.  This 
has  come,  partly  through  the  more  critical  use  of  old  sources  of 
information,  and  partly  through  the  acquisition  of  new  sources. 
The  discoveries  both  of  Criticism  and  of  Archaeology  have  been 
fragmentary,  and  have  been  scattered  irregularly  throughout 
this  period;  so  that,  in  attempting  to  trace  the  progress  of  An- 
cient Oriental  History  it  is  most  convenient  to  treat  the  subject 
topically  rather  than  genetically.  Let  us  then  consider,  first, 
the  researches  that  have  been  carried  on  in  ancient  chronology ; 
and,  after  that,  the  new  light  that  has  been  thrown  upon  the 
history  of  each  of  the  great  nations  of  antiquity. 

I.  The  Chronology. — An  accurate  chronology  is  the  first  need 
of  scientific  historical  research,  but  prior  to  1834  no  such  chro- 
nology of  ancient  Oriental  history  existed.  Then  the  only  sources 
of  information  were  the  statements  of  Greek  writers  and  the 
figures  of  the  Old  Testament.  The  most  important  of  these 
sources  was  the  so-called  Ptolemaic  Canon,  a  chronological 
table  preserved  in  the  writings  of  the  Alexandrian  astronomer 
Claudius  Ptolemaeus.  It  is  a  list  of  the  kings  of  Babylon,  Persia, 
Macedon,  and  Rome,  from  Nabonassar  down  to  Antoninus  Pius. 
After  the  reign  of  each  king  stands  the  number  of  years  that  he 
reigned,  and,  in  a  second  column,  the  sum-total  of  years  from 
the  beginning  of  the  era  of  Nabonassar.  The  Ptolemaic  Canon 
thus  makes  the  connection  between  the  chronology  of  classical 
history  and  the  chronology  of  the  Old  Testament. 

On  this  basis  numerous  historians  of  the  sixteenth  and  seven- 
teenth centuries,  such  as  Scaliger,  Ussher,  Capellus,  Marsham, 
des  Vignoles,  Mercator,  and  Kohlreif,  following  the  example  of 
the  Greek  chronographers  and  the  Church  Fathers,  attempted  to 

52 


ORIENTAL  AND  OLD  TESTAMENT  HISTORY     53 

construct  a  chronology  of  the  pre-Christian  centuries.  The 
scheme  of  Ussher  (Annates  V.  et  N.  Testatnenti,  1650-1654) 
was  no  better  than  many  of  its  rivals,  but  it  gained  extraordinary 
prestige  through  the  fact  that  it  was  inserted  in  the  margin  of 
the  Authorized  English  Version  of  the  Bible.  Ussher  dated  the 
fall  of  Jerusalem  in  588  B.C.,  the  fall  of  Samaria  in  721,  the  Syro- 
Ephraimitic  war  in  742,  Menahem's  payment  of  tribute  to 
Tiglath-Pileser  in  774,  Ahab's  death  in  897,  the  division  of  the 
kingdom  in  975,  the  oppression  of  the  Israelites  in  Egypt  in 
1350,  and  the  creation  of  the  world  in  4004. 

In  1834  this  system  was  still  generally  accepted.  Since  that 
time,  however,  many  new  facts  have  come  to  light,  which  have 
made  it  possible  to  construct  a  far  more  accurate  chronology. 
In  1875  George  Smith  discovered  among  the  tablets  of  Ashur- 
banipal's  library  the  so-called  Eponym  Canon,  a  list  of  digni- 
taries of  the  Assyrian  Empire  who  were  chosen  to  give  their 
names  to  a  series  of  227  consecutive  years.  One  of  the  copies 
of  this  list  contains  also  a  record  of  the  most  important  events 
that  occurred  in  the  respective  eponymies.  This  list  overlaps 
the  beginning  of  the  Ptolemaic  Canon;  hence,  assuming  the 
Ptolemaic  Canon  to  be  correct,  it  is  possible  to  determine  the 
dates  of  the  Assyrian  eponyms  as  far  back  as  889  B.C.  For  the 
year  which,  according  to  these  calculations,  should  be  763  B.C., 
the  Assyrian  Canon  adds  after  the  name  of  the  eponym  the 
remark,  "In  the  month  Sivan  the  sun  was  eclipsed."  Modern 
astronomical  science  has  shown  that  on  June  15,  763  B.C.,  an 
almost  total  eclipse  of  the  sun  occurred  at  Nineveh.  Thus  the 
strict  historical  accuracy  both  of  the  Ptolemaic  Canon  and  of 
the  Eponym  Canon  is  brilliantly  demonstrated,  and  it  becomes 
possible  to  date  with  absolute  precision  all  the  kings  of  Assyria 
from  889  B.C.  onward,  and  also  all  the  main  events  of  their 
reigns.  These  conclusions  were  worked  out  with  great  thor- 
oughness by  Eberhard  Schrader,*  and,  since  his  time,  it  has  been 
generally  conceded  that  the  Ptolemaic  Canon  and  the  Eponym 
Canon  are  trustworthy  foundations  for  a  chronology. 

A  number  of  events  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament  are  also 
mentioned  in  the  Canon  and  in  the  Assyro-Babylonian  records. 
From  these  we  learn  that  the  fall  of  Jerusalem  occurred  in  586 
B.C.,  the  fall  of  Samaria  in  722,  the  Syro-Ephraimitic  war  in  734, 

'  Die  Keilinschriften  und  die  Geschichtsforschung,  1878. 


54  RECENT  CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

Menahem's  payment  of  tribute  to  Tiglath-Pileser  in  738,  and 
that  Ahab  was  alive  and  able  to  fight  with  Shalmaneser  II  in 
854.  These  figures  differ  widely  from  those  of  Ussher,  and 
necessitate  a  thoroughgoing  reconstruction  of  his  chronology. 

For  the  period  prior  to  the  beginning  of  the  Eponym  Canon 
another  chronological  authority  has  come  to  light  since  1834. 
The  so-called  Babylonian  List  of  Kings  was  discovered  by  George 
Smith,  and  was  first  published  by  Pinches  in  the  Proceedings  of 
the  Society  of  Biblical  Archceology,  May,  1884.  It  contains  in 
consecutive  order  the  names  of  the  kings  of  eleven  dynasties,  who 
reigned  over  Babylon  from  the  time  when  it  first  became  the 
capital  of  Western  Asia  down  to  the  time  of  the  Persian  con- 
quest. The  name  of  each  king  is  preceded  by  the  number  of 
years  that  he  reigned,  and  at  the  end  of  each  dynasty  the  sum- 
total  of  all  the  reigns  is  given.  This  document  overlaps  the 
beginning  of  the  Ptolemaic  Canon,  and  of  the  Eponym  Canon, 
with  both  of  which  it  agrees  absolutely.  By  means  of  this  List 
the  chronology  of  Babylon  is  carried  back  to  about  2060  b.c.^ 
The  names  of  eighteen  kings  are  broken  out  of  the  third,  or 
Cassite,  dynasty,  but  'these  have  been  restored  from  other 
sources.^  King,  in  his  Chronicles  concerning  Early  Babylonian 
Kings,  1907,  has  recently  demonstrated,  what  has  long  been 
suspected,  that  the  second  dynasty  of  the  List  is  contemporary 
with  the  first;  and  has  thus  made  possible  a  more  accurate 
dating  of  the  beginning  of  the  List.^ 

In  1888  the  famous  Tell-el-Amarna  letters  were  discovered. 
From  them  we  learn  that  Burnaburiash,  king  of  Babylon  (1382- 
1358  B.C.),  was  contemporary  with  Ashuruballit,  king  of  As- 
syria, and  with  Amenophis  IV,  king  of  Egypt,  Thus  a  fixed 
point  is  given  for  the  determination  of  the  dates  of  the  kings  of 
the  New  Egyptian  Empire.  With  the  help  of  Egyptian  astro- 
nomical data  the  reign  of  Amenophis  IV  has  been  fixed  circa 
1375-1358  B.C.  Coming  down  the  list  of  kings  given  by  Mane- 
tho,  we  then  obtain  1 292-1 225  B.C.  as  the  date  of  Ramses  II, 
the  Pharaoh  who  oppressed  the  Israelites,  instead  of  Ussher's 
1350  B.C. 

*  See  Winckler,  Untersuchungen  zur  altorientalischen  Geschichte,  1889  ;  Leh- 
mann,  Zwei  Hauptprohleme  der  altorientalischen  Chronologic,  1898. 

^  See  Clay,  Documents  dated  in  the  Reigns  of  Cassite  Rulers,  1906. 

'  See  Ranke,  Babylonian  Legal  and  Business  Documents  from  the  Time  of  the 
First  Dynasty  of  Babylon,  1906;  Poebel,  Zeitschrift  fUr  Assyriologie,  1906,  pp. 
229  S. 


ORIENTAL  AND  OLD  TESTAMENT  HISTORY     55 

In  1899  the  Papyrus  Reinhardt  was  published  by  Borchardt/ 
This  contains  the  record  of  a  heliacal  rising  of  Sirius  in  the 
seventh  year  of  Sesostris  (Usertesen)  III,  which  establishes 
the  beginning  of  his  reign  in  1887  B.C.  Thus  a  fixed  point  is 
given  for  the  chronology  of  the  Middle  Egyptian  Kingdom. 
Reckoning  back  the  sums  of  the  earlier  reigns,  so  far  as  they  are 
known,  3400  B.C.  is  reached  as  the  latest  possible  date  for 
Menes,  the  first  king  of  the  first  dynasty  of  Manctho.^ 

For  Babylonian  History  prior  to  the  first  dynasty  of  Babylon 
we  have  a  large  number  of  chronological  lists  that  have  been 
discovered  within  the  last  ten  years.'  With  the  help  of  these 
and  other  data  derived  from  the  contract-tablets  that  have  been 
found  in  such  vast  numbers  in  Southern  Babylonia  since  1877, 
the  chronology  of  ancient  Babylonia  has  been  carried  backward 
with  considerable  certainty  to  about  3000  B.C.  Thus  it  appears 
that,  since  1875,  a  whole  series  of  ancient  records  have  come  to 
light,  which  have  enabled  historians  for  the  first  time  to  con- 
struct a  precise  chronology  of  the  ancient  Orient.  This  is  an 
achievement  of  incalculable  scientific  importance. 

2.  The  History  of  Egypt.  —  Prior  to  1834  nothing  was  known 
about  ancient  Egyptian  history,  except  what  could  be  gathered 
from  Manetho's  list  of  kings  and  the  confused  legends  re- 
corded by  Hecataeus  of  Miletus,  Herodotus,  and  Diodorus. 
These  Greek  writers  were  trustworthy  only  for  the  period  of  the 
twenty-sixth  dynasty,  which  immediately  preceded  their  own 
day.  Since  1834  the  history  of  Egypt  in  all  its  main  features 
has  been  reconstructed  from  the  statements  of  the  ancient  monu- 
ments. 

The  key  to  the  decipherment  of  the  hieroglyphics  was  not  dis- 
covered by  Champollion  until  1822,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death 
in  1832  only  a  beginning  had  been  made  in  the  interpretation  of 
the  texts.  Egyptology  was  first  placed  on  a  scientific  basis  by 
Lepsius  (after  1835)  and  by  de  Rouge  (after  1846).  Through 
the  labors  of  these  scholars  and  of  Mariette,  Chabas,  Goodwin, 
Brugsch,    Erman,    Steindorff,    Sethe,    Schaffer,     Spiegclbcrg, 

1  Zeitschrift  fur  dgyptische  Sprache,  1S99,  2. 

"^  All  these  new  chronoloKiral  data  have  been  investigated  with  great  thorough- 
ness by  Eduard  Meyer,  Aegyptische  Chronologic,  1904 ;  Geschichtc  des  Altertums  , 
I.  2,  1909. 

'  See  King,  Chronicles  concerning  Early  Babylonian  Kings,  1897;  Thureau- 
Dangin,  Die  sumerischen  und  akkadischen  Konigsinschriflen,  1907,  pp.  224  ft. 


56  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

Breasted,  Griffith,  Borchardt,  Miiller,  and  many  others,  the 
knowledge  of  the  hieroglyphic,  hieratic,  and  demotic  styles  of 
writing  has  gradually  been  perfected,  until  to-day  an  ordinary 
Egyptian  text  can  be  read  with  ease  and  certainty. 

Along  with  this  has  gone  the  discovery  of  an  immense  amount 
of  archaeological  material  belonging  to  all  periods  of  Egyptian 
history.  It  is  now  known  that  nearly  a  thousand  years  before 
Menes,  the  first  king  of  Manetho's  first  dynasty,  the  Sothic  era, 
beginning  with  the  year  4241  B.C.,  was  already  established.^ 
Since  1896  many  remains  of  the  pre-dynastic  period  have  been 
found  in  Upper  Egypt,  that  carry  us  back  certainly  into  the  fifth 
millennium  b.c.^  These  disclose  to  us  the  earliest  stages  of 
Egyptian  civilization,  and  in  particular  the  origin  of  the  hiero- 
glyphic writing. 

The  Thinite  kings  of  Manetho's  first  and  second  dynasties 
(3400-2980  B.C.),  which  were  formerly  supposed  to  be  mythical, 
are  now  known  to  be  historical.  Objects  bearing  their  names 
have  been  found  in  various  parts  of  Upper  Egypt,  their  inscrip- 
tions are  carved  on  the  rocks  of  Sinai,  and  the  tombs  of  most  of 
them  have  been  excavated  at  Abydos. 

From  the  Old  Kingdom  of  dynasties  XI  to  XII  (2 160-1788 
B.C.)  we  have  the  memorial  stelae  of  Abydos,  the  biographies  in 
the  tombs  of  Benihassan,  and  the  royal  inscriptions  in  Nubia, 
at  Sinai,  and  in  the  quarries.  In  this  period  literary  papyri 
and  private  business-documents  begin  to  be  fairly  plentiful. 

Under  the  New  Empire  of  dynasties  XVIII  to  XX  (1580- 
II 50  B.C.)  the  sources  of  history  become  abundant.  There  are 
now  the  extensive  temple-reliefs,  with  their  accompanying  in- 
scriptions, recording  all  the  important  events  in  the  lives  of  the 
kings.  The  great  campaigns  in  Syria,  or  in  Africa,  are  here 
described  with  considerable  circumstantiality.  Most  impor- 
tant of  these  is  the  record  of  the  Asiatic  wars  of  Thutmose  III 
on  the  walls  of  the  temple  of  Karnak,  which  contains  a  list  of  119 
cities  captured  in  Palestine.  Officers  of  these  kings  have  also 
left  accounts  in  their  tombs  of  the  parts  that  they  played  in  the 
foreign  wars,  and  papyri  and  private  documents  of  all  sorts  are 
exceedingly  common. 

'  Breasted,  Biblical  World,  May,  1906. 

'See  Petrie,  Naqada  and  Ballas,  1896;  Diospolis  Parva,  1900;  Abydos, 
1902-04;  MacWer  and  Muce,  El  A mrah  and  Abydos,  1902;  Quibel,  £/*a6, 1898 ; 
Hierakonopolis,  1900  ff.;  Garstang,  Mahasna  and  Bet  Khalldf,  1903. 


ORIENTAL  AND  OLD  TESTAMENT  HISTORY     57 

From  the  period  of  Egyptian  decline  (1150-663  B.C.)  monu- 
ments are  rarer ;  still  they  do  not  fail  us  entirely,  and  they  are 
supplemented  by  information  derived  from  Hebrew  and  As- 
syrian sources. 

The  publication  of  this  vast  amount  of  inscriptional  material 
is  entirely  the  work  of  the  last  seventy-five  years.*  Besides  this 
there  are  an  immense  number  of  texts  scattered  through  smaller 
works  and  periodicals  in  all  languages.  A  comprehensive 
translation  of  this  material  is  now  being  made  in  Germany  under 
the  title  Urkunden  des  dgyptischen  Altertunis,  of  which  several 
volumes  have  already  appeared.  An  admirable  English  trans- 
lation of  the  most  important  historical  documents  is  given  by 
Breasted,  Ancient  Records  of  Egypt  (5  vols.,  1906-1907).  Since 
this  task  has  been  accomplished  it  has  at  last  become  possible 
to  write  a  history  of  Egypt.  The  first  work  on  this  subject  that 
has  scientific  value  is  Brusgch,  Geschichte  Aegyptens  (1877). 
This  has  been  followed  by  Wiedemann  (1884),  Meyer  (1887), 
Petrie  (1894-1905),  Erman  (1885-1887),  Miiller  (1893),  Mas- 
pero  (1895-1899).  These  have  all  been  superseded  in  large 
measure  by  Breasted,^  History  of  Egypt  ^  (1908),  and  by  Meyer, 
Geschichte  des  Altertums^  (1909). 

3.  The  History  of  Babylonia.  —  Prior  to  1834  as  little  was 
known  about  ancient  Babylonia  as  about  ancient  Egypt.  From 
Herodotus,  Ctesias,  and  other  Greek  historians  fairly  accurate 
information  could  be  obtained  concerning  the  New  Empire  of 
the  eleventh  dynasty  (626-539  B.C.),  but  concerning  earlier 
times  they  knew  nothing.  Berossos,  a  Babylonian  priest  (c.  280 
B.C.),  wrote  a  history  of  his  native  land  on  the  basis  of  cuneiform 
documents,  but  this  work  survived  only  in  fragments  preserved 
by  Josephus  and  Eusebius  (Syncellus)  through  the  mediation 
of  Alexander  Polyhistor.  These  fragments  referred  almost  ex- 
clusively to  legends  of  the  times  immediately  before  and  after 
the  Deluge,  and  to  the  late  period  of  Judah's  relation  to  Baby- 
lon. Accordingly,  they  yielded  practically  nothing  for  Babylo- 
nian history.     Since   1834  the  original  records  of  the  Babylo- 

'  The  great  standard  collections  are  Champollion,  Monuments  de  VEgypte  et 
de  la  Nubie,  1835  ^■'<  Rosellini,  Monumenti  dell'  Egitto  e  della  Nubia,  1832  ff.; 
Lepsius,  Denkmdler  aus  Aegypten  und  Aethiopien,  1842-45;  Prisse  d'Avennes, 
Monuments  igypl.,  1847;  Histoire  de  I'art  egypt.,  1878;  de  Rouge,  Recherches 
sur  les  monuments,  qu'on  peut  attribuer  aux  six  premieres  dynasties  de  Man,'thon, 
i860;  Wilkinson,  The  Manners  and  Customs  of  the  Ancient  Egyptians,^  1878; 
Erman,  Aegypten  und  dgyptisches  Leben  im  Allerthum,  1894. 


58  RECENT  CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

nians  have  been  discovered,  their  language  has  been  deciphered, 
and  their  history  has  been  written  with  a  fair  degree  of  com- 
pleteness from  about  3000  B.C.  down  to  the  fall  of  Babylon  in 
539  B.C. 

In  1802  Grotefend  succeeded  in  reading  the  names  of  the 
Achaemenian  kings  in  the  Old  Persian  first  column  of  the  trilin- 
gual inscriptions  of  Persepolis.  On  this  foundation  Burnouf 
and  Lassen  (1836)  and  Rawlinson  (1847)  succeeded  in  de- 
ciphering the  Persian  variety  of  cuneiform  writing.  From  this 
the  Babylonian  cuneiform  of  the  third  column  of  the  Persepolis 
inscriptions  was  gradually  deciphered  from  1849  onward  by 
Rawlinson,  de  Saulcy,  Hincks,  and  Oppert.  Eberhard  Schrader 
(since  1872)  and  Friedrich  Delitzsch  (since  1874),  with  the  help 
of  a  large  number  of  younger  scholars,  have  put  the  study  of  the 
language  on  a  thoroughly  scientific  basis,  and  have  made  it 
possible  to  translate  a  Babylonian  text  with  as  much  certainty  as 
a  passage  in  the  Old  Testament. 

Along  with  this  decipherment  has  gone  the  discovery  of  a  vast 
number  of  inscriptions,  either  carved  on  stone,  or  written  on  clay 
tablets,  that  were  afterwards  baked,  and  so  became  indestruct- 
ible, except  through  breaking.  In  1889  excavations  were  begun 
by  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  at  the  mound  of  Nippur  in 
Southern  Babylonia.  Here  was  discovered  the  tower-temple  of 
En-lil,  the  chief  god  of  ancient  Babylonia.  In  the  period  prior  to 
3000  B.C.  Nippur  must  have  been  the  capital  of  a  united  empire, 
and  its  god  retained  his  prestige  even  after  his  city  had  lost  the 
hegemony.  To  his  temple  inscribed  objects  were  presented  by 
princes  from  all  parts  of  the  land,  and  from  these  inscriptions 
the  earliest  history  of  Babylonia  has  been  reconstructed  with 
surprising  fullness.^  These  discoveries  have  been  supple- 
mented by  the  rich  finds  of  the  French  excavations  at  Tello. 
Here  also  thousands  of  tablets  have  been  excavated  in  the 
temple-archives,  that  belong  to  the  very  earliest  period  of  Baby- 
lonian civilization.^  The  French  expedition  to  Susa  has  also 
unearthed  many  important  monuments  of  early  Babylonia  that 
were  transported  thither  as  trophies  by  victorious  kings  of  Elam.^ 

^  For  the  history  of  the  excavations  see  Peters,  Nippur,  1897;  Hilprecht,  The 
Excavations  in  Assyria  and  Babylonia,  1904;  Explorations  in  Bible  Lands,  1903. 

^  See  de  Sarzec  and  Heuzey,  Decouverts  en  Chaldee,  1877  ff.;  Heuzey,  Cata- 
logue des  antiqiiites  chaldeennes  du  Louvre,  1902. 

^  See  de  Morgan,  Delegation  en  Perse,  1902. 


ORIENTAL  AND  OLD  TESTAMENT  HISTORY     59 

The  historical  texts  of  this  period  that  have  hitherto  been 
scattered  through  many  magazines,  have  recently  been  col- 
lected by  Thureau-Dangin  (Die  sumerischen  und  akkadischen 
Konigsinschriften,  1907).  The  religious  texts  are  collected  by 
Jensen  (Keilinschriftliche  Bibliothek,  vi,  1900  ff.). 

From  these  remains  it  appears  that  in  the  fourth  millennium 
B.C.  Babylonia  was  inhabited  by  a  non-Semitic  race,  the  so-called 
Sumerians,  who  invented  the  cuneiform  writing  and  laid  the 
foundations  of  later  Babylonian  civilization.  The  earliest  in- 
scriptions are  in  pure  Sumcrian,  and  in  an  archaic  linear  charac- 
ter that  approximates  picture-writing.  During  the  third  mil- 
lennium the  Semites  began  to  pour  into  the  land,  and  a  long 
struggle  for  supremacy  ensued  between  the  Sumerians  and  the 
Semites,  which  resulted  about  2500  B.C.  in  the  victory  of  the 
Semites.  At  this  time  Semitic  cuneiform  texts  first  make  their 
appearance.  For  a  thousand  years  at  least  before  the  founding 
of  the  first  dynasty  of  Babylon  (2060  B.C.)  Babylonia  was  di- 
vided into  a  number  of  petty  kingdoms  that  were  in  constant 
warfare  with  one  another.  Between  3000  and  2500  B.C.  the 
most  important  states  were  Lagash,  Kish,  and  Gishuh,  whose 
rulers  bore  respectively  the  title  of  Lugal,  'King,'  or  Potest, 
'Viceroy,'  according  to  their  success  in  the  conflicts  with  their 
neighbors.  Fourteen  kings  of  Lagash  are  known,  eleven  of 
them  in  regular  sequence.  The  names  of  the  contemporary 
kings  of  Kish  and  of  Gishuh,  with  whom  they  fought,  are  also 
known. 

About  2575-2550  B.C.  a  certain  Lugalzaggisi  united  Baby- 
lonia under  his  rule,  and  carried  his  arms  as  far  as  the  shore  of 
the  Mediterranean.  Between  2500  and  2000  B.C.  Babylonia 
stood  successively  under  the  rule  of  the  dynasties  of  Akkad 
(2500-2300  B.C.),  of  Ur  (2300-2200),  and  of  Isin  (2200-2000 
B.C.),  all  of  which  reigned  as  far  as  the  Mediterranean.  Con- 
temporaneous with  them  were  the  patesis  of  Lagash  (2500- 
2200  B.C.)  and  the  beginning  of  the  first  dynasty  of  Babylon. 
From  the  reigns  of  these  kings  public  and  private  documents  of 
all  sorts  have  been  recovered,  from  which  an  excellent  idea  is 
gained  of  the  history  and  the  civilization  of  Babylonia  in  the 
third  millennium  B.C. 

Qammurabi,  the  sixth  king  of  the  first  dynasty  of  Babylon 
(probably  the  same  as '  Amraphcl  of  Gen.  14),  expelled  the  Ela- 


6o  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

mites  from  the  land,  and  united  Babylonia  under  his  rule  (1958- 
1916  B.C.)-  From  his  reign  and  from  those  of  the  other  members 
of  his  dynasty  many  tablets  have  come  down  to  us,  that  allow 
the  construction  of  a  very  complete  picture  of  the  history  of  the 
period.^  The  Law-Code  of  gammurabi,  in  282  sections,  was 
discovered  in  Susa  in  1901,  and  was  first  published  by  Scheil 
in  1902.  It  gives  a  marvelous  insight  into  the  civilization  of  the 
age,  and  shows  the  origin  of  many  provisions  found  in  the  He- 
brew legislation  more  than  a  thousand  years  later.^  Palestine 
stood  under  the  rule  of  Hammurabi  and  his  successors,  and 
during  this  period  Babylonian  civilization  took  deep  root  in  the 
West.  The  stories  of  the  Creation,  the  Deluge,  the  Tower  of 
Babel,  and  other  Babylonian  elements  in  the  Old  Testament, 
probably  all  found  their  way  into  Canaan  at  this  early  date. 

About  1760  B.C.  Babylonia  was  conquered  by  the  Cassites,  an 
alien  race  from  the  East,  and,  in  consequence,  the  glory  of  Ham- 
murabi's dynasty  waned  rapidly.  The  names  of  thirty-six 
kings  of  the  Cassite  dynasty  (i 760-1 185  B.C.)  are  known  in 
chronological  order.  Records  of  their  reigns  are  less  complete 
than  for  the  earlier  period,  still  many  tablets  of  this  time  have 
been  recovered.'  From  the  subsequent  period  down  to  626  B.C. 
we  have  not  only  native  Babylonian  sources  of  information,  but 
also  the  annals  of  the  Assyrian  kings,  who  during  this  period 
reduced  Babylonia  to  servitude  for  the  greater  part  of  the  time. 

From  the  New  Babylonian  Empire  that  arose  after  the  fall  of 
Nineveh  (626-539  B.C.)  we  have  all  the  historical  inscriptions 
collected  by  Strassraaier  and  Evetts  in  their  Babylonische  Texte.* 

On  the  basis  of  these  sources  it  has  become  possible  since  1875 
to  write  histories  of  ancient  Babylonia.  The  most  important 
works  are  those  of  Hommel  (1885),  Tiele  (1886  f.),  Murdter- 
DeHtzsch  (1891),  Winckler  (1892;  revised  Eng.  trans.,  1907), 
Radau   (1900),   Rogers   (1900),  Goodspeed   (1902),   and   most 

*  See  King,  Letters  and  Inscriptions  of  Hammurabi,  1898;  Ranke,  Babylonian 
Legal  and  Business  Documents  from  the  Time  of  the  First  Dynasty  of  Babylon^ 
1906. 

^  See  Harper,  The  Code  of  Hammurabi,  1904. 

'  See  Clay,  Documents  from  the  Temple  Archives  of  Nippur  dated  in  the 
Reigns  of  Cassite  Rulers,  1906;  Radau,  Letters  to  Cassite  Kings,  1908;  Keilin- 
schriftliche  Bibliothek,  iii.  1892. 

*  Nabuchodonosor,  1889;  Evil-Merodach,  Neriglissar,  and  Laborosoarchod, 
1892;  Nabonidus,  1889.  For  a  full  exhibit  of  the  Babylonian  texts,  see  Bezold, 
Ueberblick  der  bab.-assyr.  Literatur,  1886;  Weber,  Die  Literatur,  der  Babylonier 
und  Assyrer,  1907. 


ORIENTAL  AND  OLD  TESTAMENT  HISTORY     6i 

recently  Meyer  in  his  Geschichte  des  AUertums  ^  (1909).  Every- 
thing earlier  than  these  is  now  so  hopelessly  antiquated  as  to  be 
unusable. 

4.  The  History  of  Assyria.  — In  1834  there  was  even  less 
knowledge  concerning  Assyria  than  concerning  Egypt  and  Baby- 
lon. Herodotus  was  the  main  source  of  information,  and  his 
ideas  were  scanty  and  sadly  confused. 

Since  1834  the  reading  of  the  Assyrian  records,  which  are 
written  in  the  same  language  as  the  Babylonian,  has  become  pos- 
sible ;  and,  through  the  labors  of  Botta,  Layard,  Rassam,  Raw- 
linson,  and  George  Smith,  vast  numbers  of  stone  inscriptions  and 
of  clay  tablets  have  been  recovered  from  the  mounds  of  Assyria. 
Most  important  of  all  was  the  discovery  of  the  library  of  King 
Ashurbanipal  at  Nineveh  by  Rassam  in  1852.  The  Assyrian 
kings  were  in  the  habit  of  adorning  the  walls  of  their  palaces  with 
long  inscriptions,  in  which  the  principal  historical  events  of  their 
reigns  were  recorded;  and  they  kept  elaborate  and  accurate 
annals  on  clay  tablets  and  cylinders.  Consequently,  the  monu- 
mental sources  for  Assyrian  history  are  much  more  abundant 
and  accurate  than  is  the  case  either  in  Egypt  or  in  Babylonia. 

In  the  native  records  Assyria  appears  at  the  time  of  the  first 
dynasty  of  Babylon  as  a  vassal-state  ruled  by  patesis.  Dur- 
ing the  period  of  Cassite  rule  the  contemporary  Assyrian  kings 
are  known  in  their  chronological  order.  Through  the  efforts 
of  these  monarchs  Assyria  became  independent  of  Babylon,  and 
several  times  succeeded  in  conquering  her  former  mistress. 
With  Adad-nirari  I  {c.  1330  B.C.)  longer  historical  inscriptions 
begin.  From  Tiglath-Pileser  I  {c.  11 75-1 100  B.C.)  we  have 
extensive  annals,  which,  together  with  a  document  known  as 
the  Synchronous  Chronicle,  show  that  he  conquered  Babylon, 
and  carried  his  arms  from  Lake  Van  to  the  Persian  Gulf, 
and  from  the  mountains  of  Media  to  Syria.^  After  Tiglath- 
Pileser  I  Assyria  suffered  a  great  decline,  and  little  is  known  of 
its  history  beyond  the  names  of  the  kings  until  the  reign  of 
Ashurnasirpal  III  (884-860  B.C.).  With  him  begins  the  expan- 
sion of  the  Assyrian  Empire,  and  the  writing  of  copious  annals 
and  of  other  sorts  of  historical  inscriptions.^ 

'  See  Keilinschriftliche  Bihliothek,  i.  14  sq. 

'  The  principal  historical  texts  of  the  Assyrian  kings  from  Ashurnasirpal 
to  Ashurbanipal  have  been  published  by  Layard,  Inscriptions  in  the  Cuneiform 
Character,  185 1;    and  in  the  five  folio  volumes  of  Rawlinson,  Cuneiform  In- 


62  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

5.  The  History  of  Canaan.  —  In  1834  nothing  was  known 
about  ancient  Canaan  prior  to  the  Hebrew  conquest,  except  the 
vague  statements  of  the  Old  Testament  concerning  the  Horites, 
Zuzim,  Emim,  Amorites,  Canaanites,  and  other  races  that 
formerly  dwelt  in  the  land.  Now,  through  excavation  of  the 
mounds  of  Palestine  (since  1890),  and  through  statements  of  the 
Egyptian  and  Babylonian  records,  the  main  features  of  pre- 
Israelitish  civilization  are  well  known. 

Before  2500  B.C.  Canaan  was  occupied  by  a  non-Semitic  race 
that  dwelt  in  caves,  and  was  still  in  the  Neolithic  stage  of  devel- 
opment. These  people  burned  their  dead,  and  in  and  about 
their  caves  excavated  hundreds  of  circular  depressions,  known  as 
"cup-marks,"  that  were  probably  symbols  of  a  mother-goddess. 
Their  belief  in  immortality  is  attested  by  offerings  of  food, 
weapons,  ornaments,  etc.,  which  they  placed  with  the  dead. 

About  2500  B.C.  the  Semitic  race  of  the  Amorites  entered 
Canaan  and  dispossessed  the  cave-dwellers.  They  lived  in 
houses  on  the  surface  of  the  ground,  and  buried  their  dead  in 
the  caves  of  their  predecessors.  Their  chief  divinity  was  the 
mother-goddess,  Ashtart,  the  Ashtoreth  of  the  Old  Testament, 
and  the  Astarte  of  the  Greeks.  She  was  worshiped  in  high 
places  furnished  with  small  conical  stones  as  symbols  of  herself, 
and  with  tall  standing  stones,  the  "pillars"  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, as  symbols  of  her  male  consorts.  Under  the  floors  of 
these  high  places  hundreds  of  jars  have  been  found  containing 
the  bones  of  new-born  infants.  This  shows  that  the  Amorites 
sacrificed  their  first-born  children  in  honor  of  the  mother-god- 
dess. Babylonian  seals  and  astrological  tablets  found  at  Gezer 
and  Taanach  show  that  Syrian  art  and  religion  were  strongly 
influenced  by  the  contemporary  civilization  of  the  first  dynasty 
of  Babylon. 

In  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  B.C.  the  same  great 
migration  of  races  that  brought  the  Cassites  into  Babylonia 

scriptions  of  Western  Asia,  1861-84,  which  are  now  being  continued  in  the  several 
volumes  of  Cuneiform  Texts  in  the  British  Museum.  German  translations  of  the 
more  important  texts  are  found  in  Schrader,  Keilinschriftliche  Bibliothek,  vols,  i 
and  ii,  1889-90;  for  additional  publications  see  the  works  of  Bezold  and 
Weber  cited  above.  The  Annals  of  Ashurnasirpal  have  been  carefully  reedited 
by  King,  1903;  those  of  Tiglath-Pileser  III,  by  Rost,  1893;  o^  Sargon,  by  Winck- 
ler,  1889;  and  of  Ashurbanipal,  by  Winckler,  1890.  For  the  history  of  Assyria 
as  based  upon  the  new  monumental  discoveries,  see  the  works  on  Babylonian- 
Assyrian  history  referred  to  above. 


ORIENTAL  AND  OLD  TESTAMENT  HISTORY     63 

brought  the  Hyksos  into  Egypt,  and  a  new  Semitic  race  that  we 
call  the  Canaanites  into  Syria.  After  the  expulsion  of  the 
Hyksos,  the  Egyptians  undertook  the  conquest  of  Canaan,  and 
from  1580  to  1200  B.C.  it  was  an  Egyptian  province.  The 
Egyptian  records  of  this  period  furnish  much  information  about 
Palestine,  and  the  Tell-el-Amarna  letters,  discovered  in  1888, 
give  a  wonderfully  clear  insight  into  the  conditions  that  pre- 
vailed there  about  1400  B.C.* 

6.  The  History  of  Israel.  —  Progress  in  the  study  of  the  his- 
tory of  Israel  during  the  last  seventy-five  years  has  come,  first, 
through  a  more  accurate  dating  of  the  Old  Testament  docu- 
ments, and  second,  through  the  progress  of  Oriental  history  in 
general. 

The  critical  analysis  of  the  Hexateuch,  and  the  dating  of  its 
documents  in  their  true  chronological  order,  which  have  been 
the  work  of  the  last  three  quarters  of  a  century,^  have  profoundly 
modified  our  conception  of  the  beginnings  of  the  history  of 
Israel.  The  Book  of  Genesis  is  now  seen  to  be,  not  the  work  of 
Moses,  but  a  compound  of  extracts  taken  from  three  sources; 
namely,  a  Judaean  document  (J),  written  between  850  and  800 
B.C.,  characterized  by  the  use  of  the  divine  name  Jahweh ;  an 
Ephraimitic  document  (E),  written  between  800  and  750  B.C., 
characterized  by  the  use  of  the  divine  name  Elohim;  and  a 
Priestly  document  (P),  written  about  450  B.C.  The  traditions 
recorded  in  these  documents  are  not  all  of  the  Patriarchal  age, 
as  was  supposed  when  Genesis  was  believed  to  be  the  work  of 
Moses.  Many  of  the  stories  clearly  refer  to  incidents  of  the 
period  of  the  Judges  or  early  Kings.  Other  stories  are  now 
known  to  be  of  Babylonian  origin,  and  wete  probably  learned 
from  the  Canaanites  after  the  conquest  of  the  land.  Still  others, 
such  as  those  which  explain  the  origin  of  the  holy  places  of 
Canaan,  are  probably  of  Canaanitish  origin.  In  view  of  these 
facts,  it  has  become  exceedingly  difficult  to  say  precisely  which 

'  On  the  excavations  in  Palestine,  see  Petrie.  Tell-el-Hesy,  1892;  Bliss,  A 
Mound  0/ Many  Cities,  18Q4;  BUss-M^ceiVister,  Excavations,  1902;  Macalister, 
Reports  in  Quarterly  Statement,  Palestine  Exploration  Fund,  1902-09;  Sellin, 
Tell  Ta'annck,  1904;  Si:hum^cher,  Tell-el-Mutesellim,  1908.  On  the  Amama 
Letters,  see  Winckler,  The  Tell-el-Amarna  Letters,  1896;  Knudtzon,  Die  El- 
Amarna  Tafeln,  1907  ff.  On  the  Egyptian  occupation,  see  Miillcr,  Asien  und 
Europa,  1893;  Breasted,  Ancient  Records  0/  Egypt,  1906;  Cormack,  Egypt  m 
Asia,  1908.  On  the  history  of  early  Canaan  in  general,  see  Paton,  The  Early 
History  0/  Syria  and  Palestine,  1901. 

'  See  the  preceding  article  on  the  Higher  Criticism  of  the  Old  Testament. 


64  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

traditions  of  Genesis  are  of  primitive  Hebrew  origin,  and  how 
far  these  are  historically  trustworthy.  Great  differences  of 
opinion  exist  at  present,  and  the  problems  of  pre-Mosaic  history 
cannot  yet  be  regarded  as  having  reached  a  satisfactory  solution. 
Still,  the  following  main  elements  of  Hebrew  tradition  are  now 
generally  regarded  as  credible:  that  Israel  was  originally  a 
nomadic  race  in  the  Arabian  Desert;  that  it  was  related  to  the 
other  Semitic  peoples  in  the  manner  recorded  in  Genesis;  that 
it  entered  Canaan  in  the  fifteenth  century  B.C.,  along  with  the 
Habiri,  or  Hebrews,  who  are  mentioned  in  the  Amarna  Letters; 
that  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  were  historical  personages,  the 
leaders  in  the  migration  into  Canaan ;  and  that  part,  at  least,  of 
the  Hebrew  clans  subsequently  made  settlements  in  the  steppes 
of  eastern  Egypt,  where  they  were  enslaved  by  the  Pharaoh 
Ramses  II  (i 292-1 225  B.C.),  and  were  compelled  to  build  the 
store-cities  of  Pithom  and  Raamses,  whose  ruins  were  excavated 
by  Naville  in  1883.  (So  Cornill,  Guthe,  Klostermann,  Konig, 
Ottley,  Ryle,  Wade.) 

On  the  other  hand,  a  radical  school  of  historians,  particularly 
in  the  camp  of  the  Assyriologists,  regards  all  the  Patriarchal 
stories  as  transformed  Babylonian  nature-myths  (so  Winckler, 
Zimmern,  Stucken,  Jensen);  but  this  view  has  not  yet  found 
wide  acceptance  among  critics.  Since  1898  Winckler  seems  to 
have  proved  from  the  Annals  of  Sargon  that  there  was  a  North 
Arabian  district  called  Musri,  which  in  Assyrian  days  was  dis- 
tinguished from  Misri,  or  Egypt,  the  Misraim  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. On  this  basis  he  holds  that  most  of  the  mentions  of 
Egypt  in  the  Old  Testament  have  arisen  from  confusion  of 
Musrim  and  Misrim,  and  that  the  exodus  of  Israel  was  not  from 
Egypt  but  from  North  Arabia.  This  view  has  been  taken  up 
by  Cheyne  (Traditions  and  Beliefs  of  Ancient  Israel,  1907,  and 
numerous  other  writings),  but  it  has  not  yet  commended  itself 
to  other  historians. 

The  history  of  Mosaic  times  has  also  been  greatly  modified 
by  Pentateuchal  criticism.  Exodus-Deuteronomy  can  no  longer 
be  used  as  Moses'  autobiography,  but  the  varying  traditions 
therein  recorded  must  be  carefully  sifted.  It  is  now  seen  that 
the  post-exilic  Priestly  Code  yields  litde  historical  information 
for  the  Mosaic  age,  and  that  Deuteronomy  also  is  so  late  that  it 
is  useful  only  when  it  can  be  checked  by  the  older  documents. 


ORIENTAL  AND  OLD  TESTAMENT  HISTORY     65 

The  early  J  and  E  histories  are  our  primary  sources  of  informa- 
tion in  regard  to  Moses  and  his  work.  From  them  most 
historians  of  to-day  conclude  that  Moses  was  a  historic  person- 
age; that  he  was  born  in  Egypt,  as  his  Egyptian  name  indicates; 
that  he  made  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  liberate  his  kinsman, 
and  was  compelled  to  flee  to  the  desert,  where  he  took  refuge 
among  the  Kenites;  that  he  received  a  revelation  from  Jah- 
weh,  the  God  of  Sinai,  and  in  the  strength  of  this  brought  the 
enslaved  Hebrews  out  of  Egypt  and  united  them  with  the 
kindred  tribes  in  the  desert  into  a  nation  on  the  basis  of  the  ex- 
clusive worship  of  Jahweh.  The  prophetic  addresses  in  Deu- 
teronomy, and  the  elaborate  ritual  of  Exodus,  Leviticus,  and 
Numbers  do  not  come  from  his  hand ;  nevertheless,  he  was  the 
fountain-head  from  which  both  the  prophetic  and  the  priestly 
developments  in  later  Israel  took  their  origin. 

The  history  of  the  period  of  the  Judges  and  of  the  Early  Kings 
has  gained  new  sources  of  information  in  proportion  as  the  Patri- 
archal period  has  lost  them.  The  scanty  records  of  Judges  and 
Samuel  are  now  supplemented  by  many  of  the  narratives  of 
Genesis,  and  the  J  and  the  E  documents  are  now  seen  to  be 
among  our  most  important  authorities  for  the  religion  of  Israel 
in  the  times  of  Elijah  and  Elisha.  In  general,  however,  thought 
has  changed  less  during  the  last  seventy-five  years  in  regard  to 
this  period  of  Hebrew  history  than  in  regard  to  any  other. 

The  history  of  the  era  of  the  later  Kings  and  Prophets  from 
800-586  B.C.  has  been  revolutionized  within  the  last  fifty  years 
by  the  development  of  Assyriology.  During  the  long  period  in 
which  Palestine  was  subject  to  Nineveh  we  have  the  accurate 
original  annals  of  the  Assyrian  kings,  which  tell  us  year  by  year 
where  they  were  and  what  they  were  doing.  These  confirm 
and  supplement  the  scanty  statements  of  the  Book  of  Kings,  and 
illumine  the  Prophets  in  a  truly  wonderful  manner.  In  the  light 
of  this  new  information  most  of  the  oracles  of  the  Prophets  can 
now  be  dated  with  precision,  and  their  meaning  becomes  as  in- 
telligible as  the  editorial  comment  upon  current  events  in  a  mod- 
ern newspaper.  The  chief  controversies  in  this  period  are  over 
the  questions.  How  much  use  is  to  be  made  in  the  interpreta- 
tion of  the  Prophets  and  the  Book  of  Kings  of  Winckler's  distinc- 
tion between  Musri  (North  Arabia)  and  Misri  (Egypt)?  and, 
Was  there  a  second  expedition  of  Sennacherib  against  Jerusalem 


66  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

after  the  well-known  one  in  701  B.C.  ?  On  these  rather  minor 
matters  critics  are  almost  evenly  divided ;  on  other  points  there  is 
a  practical  consensus  of  opinion. 

For  the  period  of  the  Exile,  Archaeology  has  less  material  to 
oflfer  than  for  the  Assyrian  period,  still  the  annals  of  Nebuchad- 
rezzar and  his  successors  have  within  the  last  few  years  yielded 
much  valuable  information.  Criticism  also  has  rendered  im- 
portant service  by  showing  that  large  sections  of  the  Prophetical 
and  of  the  Poetical  Books  belong  to  this  era. 

Persian  times  have  received  some  new  light  from  the  Baby- 
lonian texts  of  Cyrus,  Cambyses,  and  Darius,^  and  from  the 
Old  Persian  texts  of  Persepolis  (deciphered  since  1836).^  Criti- 
cism also  has  illumined  this  era  by  the  recognition  that  in  it 
were  written  he  Priestly  Code,  the  bulk  of  the  Psalms,  and  many 
sections  of  the  Prophets  and  of  the  Poetical  Books.  The  chief 
controversy  in  this  period  is  over  the  question,  How  far  can  the 
Books  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  be  trusted  as  sources  of  history? 
It  is  generally  admitted  that  they  were  compiled  by  the  author  of 
Chronicles,  not  earlier  than  300  B.C.,  but  it  is  commonly  sup- 
posed that  the  compiler  made  use  of  the  authentic  memoirs  of 
Ezra  and  of  Nehemiah,  and  that,  in  general,  his  representation 
of  the  Restoration  is  historical.  This  has  been  much  questioned 
within  recent  years.  Van  Hoonacker  in  his  Nehemie  et  Esdras, 
1890,  maintained  that  the  activity  of  Nehemiah  preceded  that 
of  Ezra.  Kosters,  in  Het  herstel  van  Israel  in  het  Perzische 
tijdvak,  1893,  claimed,  chiefly  because  of  the  silence  of  Haggai 
and  Zechariah,  that  there  was  no  general  return  of  exiles  in  536 
B.C.,  as  the  Chronicler  reports.  His  views  have  been  followed 
by  Wellhausen,  Torrey,  Kent,  H.  P.  Smith,  and  many  other 
recent  writers.  They  are  opposed  by  E.  Meyer,  Klostermann, 
Konig,  and  others;  but  the  newer  view  seems  to  be  gaining 
ground,  and  it  is  probable  that  we  shall  need  to  modify  con- 
siderably our  ideas  of  the  history  of  the  post-exilic  period.  The 
recently  discovered  letters  from  the  Jewish  community  in  Ele- 
phantine in  Egypt  to  the  Persian  governor  Bagoi  establish  the 
date  of  Nehemiah  as  hitherto  supposed,  but  they  throw  no  light 
upon  these  other  vexed  questions. 

'  Strassmaier,  Babylonische  Texie,  1890-97. 

^  Bezold,  Achdmeniden  Inschriften,  1882;  Spiegel,  AUpersische  Keilin- 
schriften,  1881. 


ORIENTAL  AND  OLD  TESTAMENT  HISTORY     67 

The  history  of  the  Greek  period  has  gained  httle  from  archaeo- 
logical discoveries,  but  much  from  a  critical  dating  of  the  Old 
Testament  literature.  It  is  now  known  that  this  age,  which  was 
formerly  supposed  to  be  a  blank  between  the  two  Testaments, 
is  well  filled  with  some  of  the  most  important  writings  of  the  Old 
Testament.  Here  belong  Daniel,  Esther,  Ecclesiastes,  Joel, 
Zechariah  9-14,  Isaiah  24-27,  a  number  of  the  Psalms,  the  Song 
of  Songs,  and  many  other  fragments  of  the  Old  Testament,  to- 
gether with  several  of  the  books  of  the  Apocrypha. 

So  greatly  has  our  knowledge  of  Hebrew  history  been  en- 
larged during  the  last  seventy-five  years  through  Criticism  and 
Archaeology,  that  everything  written  on  this  subject  before  1834 
has  now  merely  an  antiquarian  interest.  Ewald's  Geschichle 
des  Volkes  Israel  (1843-1852)  still  has  value  as  a  summing  up 
of  the  analytical  criticism  of  the  preceding  century;  but  none 
of  the  results  of  Egyptian,  Babylonian,  and  Assyrian  Archaeology 
are  found  in  it ;  and  its  erroneous  dating  of  the  Priestly  Code  as 
the  earliest  Pentateuchal  document  vitiates  all  its  conclusions 
in  regard  to  the  pre-regnal  period  of  Hebrew  history.  Stanley 
(1863-1877)  follows  Ewald  closely.  Weber  and  Holzmann 
(1867),  Hitzig  (1869),  and  Herzfeld  (1870)  are  all  still  on  the 
ground  of  Ewald.  Until  the  documents  of  the  Hexateuch  were 
arranged  in  their  true  chronological  order,  it  was  impossible  to 
write  a  correct  history  of  Israel,  at  least  in  the  early  period  of  its 
national  existence.  Not  until  1865  was  the  modern  conception 
of  the  order  of  the  Hexateuchal  documents  established.^  Since 
that  time  scientific  histories  of  Israel  have  become  possible.  In 
1 88 1  Wellhausen  first  embodied  the  results  of  the  new  criticism 
in  his  article  ''Israel"  in  the  EncyclopcEdia  Britannica.  The 
views  there  expressed  have  become  normative  for  the  subsequent 
development  of  the  discipline.  As  modern  histories,  which  cm- 
body  the  results  both  of  Archaeology  and  of  Criticism,  mention 
may  be  made  of  Stade  (1887),  Renan  (1887),  Kittel  (1888-1892), 
Buhl  (1893),  Wincklcr  (1895-1900),  Wellhausen  (1895),  Kent 
(1896),  Klostermann  (1896),  Thomas  (1897),  Cornill  (1898), 
Piepenbring  (1898),  Guthe  (1899),  Lohr  (1900),  Ottlcy  (1901), 
Wade  (1903),  and  H.  P.  Smith  (1903). 

Side  by  side  with  this  modern  historical  school  there  has  ex- 
isted a  conservative  school,  which  has  adhered  to  the  traditional 

*  See  the  preceding  article  on  the  Higher  Criticism  of  the  Old  Testament. 


68  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

theories  of  the  date  of  the  Pentateuch  and  of  the  other  Old 
Testament  books,  but  has  tried  to  combine  with  them  the  mod- 
ern discoveries  of  Archaeology.  The  result  has  been  an  essen- 
tially antique  representation  of  the  history  of  Israel,  decked  out 
here  and  there  with  scraps  of  new  knowledge.  Here  belong 
Kurtz  (1848-1858),  Milman  (2d  ed.,  1863),  Hengstenberg 
(1869-1871),  the  Catholic  historian  Zschokke  (1872),  W.  Smith 
(1875),  Kohler  (1875-1893),  Edersheim  (1887).  For  the  last 
twenty  years  no  important  work  of  this  school  has  appeared,  so 
that  it  is  evident  that  this  reactionary  type  of  thought  is  on  the 
wane. 

The  treatises  on  special  periods  of  Hebrew  history  and  on 
special  problems  are  too  numerous  to  attempt  to  enumerate 
them  in  this  article.  General  works,  which  attempt  to  gather 
up  all  the  results  of  modern  study  in  a  comprehensive  view  of 
the  history  of  the  ancient  Orient,  are  Maspero,  Histoire  ancienne 
des  peuples  d'Orient,  1894-1901 ;  McCurdy,  History,  Prophecy, 
and  the  Monuments,  1894-1901;  and  E.  Meyer,  Geschichte  des 
Alter  turns'^ ,  1909. 


THEOLOGY   OF    THE    OLD    TESTAMENT 

Professor  Edward  Everett  Nourse,  D.D. 
Hartford  Theological  Seminary 

Biblical  Theology  is  the  youngest  of  the  theological  sciences. 
Three  quarters  of  a  century  ago  it  was  almost  unknown  outside 
of  a  small  circle  of  German  scholars.  The  name  "Biblical 
Theology"  had  been  used,  indeed,  at  least  as  early  as  1768 
(K.  Haymann,  Biblische  Theologie,  4  Aufl.),  but  it  was 
not  until  a  half  century  later  that  works  bearing  this  name 
represented  the  beginning  of  a  new  scientific  development. 
To-day  Biblical  Theology  is  the  final  Biblical  science.  To  it 
the  other  branches  of  Biblical  study  contribute  their  results; 
for  its  sake  they  may  be  said  to  exist. 

This  paper  and  the  following  one  in  the  New  Testament 
division  will  attempt  to  describe  the  origin  and  nature  of  this, 
the  latest  of  the  theological  disciplines,  and  also  to  sketch 
briefly  the  development  of  its  two  coordinate  subdivisions.  Old 
Testament  Theology  and  New  Testament  Theology. 

We  shall  better  appreciate  the  significance  of  the  rise  of  this 
new  theological  discipline  if  we  recall  briefly  the  conditions 
under  which  Biblical  study  was  carried  on  in  the  seventeenth 
and  eighteenth  centuries.  The  great  reformers  of  the  sixteenth 
century  attempted  honestly  to  make  the  Bible  the  sole  founda- 
tion of  the  Church's  faith.  Both  to  them  and  their  opponents, 
the  Bible  was  the  word  of  God.  To  this  Bible  as  such  they 
came,  to  study  it  as  God's  word,  not  at  all  as  a  human  pro- 
duction, in  order  to  discover  God's  truth.  Thus  they  were  not 
engaged  in  investigating  the  Biblical  writings  or  personalities 
per  se,  but  rather  in  seeking  to  discover  something  that  they 
believed  to  be  expressed  by  those  writings,  or  communicated 
to  or  taught  by  those  personalities.  Questions  of  the  origin, 
dates,  mutual  relations,  environment,  and  limitations  of  the 
Biblical  books  were  hardly  recognized  as  of  great  importance, 
although  in  many  minor  details  of  their  exegetical  work  such 

69 


70  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

men  as  Luther  and  Calvin  paid  attention  to  these  things.  The 
Reformers  were  after  doctrine;  and  the  Bible  was,  first  of  all, 
the  source  (or  the  proof)  of  doctrine. 

In  the  post-Reformation  age  the  place  of  the  Bible  in  theo- 
logical science  was  actually  secondary  to  that  of  the  formulated 
creeds  or  confessions.  Theoretically  the  source  of  the  confes- 
sional theologies,  it  was  practically  only  a  storehouse  for  proof- 
texts;  and  the  creeds  determined  the  exegesis  of  the  texts. 
Traditional  views  as  to  the  dates  and  authorship  of  the  Biblical 
books  were  generally  accepted  without  question,  and  little  or 
no  attention  was  paid  to  the  historical  environment  of  the 
Biblical  writings  as  determining  their  interpretation. 

In  the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  a  strong  reaction, 
began  to  manifest  itself  against  this  complete  subordination  of 
the  Bible  to  the  formulated  creeds.  It  was  in  the  circles  of 
Pietism  that  the  first  efforts  were  made  to  free  the  Bible  from 
this  bondage,  and  to  set  forth  its  teachings  or  doctrines  in  a 
purer  form.^  But  these  first  efforts  were  crude,  being  based  on 
no  clearly  defined  principles  and  being  hampered  by  altogether 
imperfect  and  incorrect  ideas  as  to  the  real  character  of  the 
religious  teachings  of  the  Bible. 

The  rapid  development  of  the  science  of  Exegesis  led  naturally 
to  attempts  to  define  more  precisely  the  relation  of  the  Biblical 
doctrines  to  those  of  the  confessions.  One  of  the  noteworthy 
works  with  this  aim  was  that  of  Gottlob  Christian  Storr,  Doc- 
trincB  ChristiancE,  pars  theoretica,  e  sacris  Uteris  repetita,  Stutt- 
gart, 1793,^  written  from  a  purely  supernaturalistic  standpoint. 
Storr's  work  attained  a  wide  circulation,  passed  through  many 
editions,  and  was  ultimately  translated  into  English. 

Among  the  many  attempts  to  formulate  a  satisfactory  defini- 
tion for  the  new  science  that  marked  the  closing  years  of  the 
eighteenth  century  the  only  one  that  contributed  to  the  further 
development  of  the  science  was  the  essay  by  Joh.  Phil.  Gabler, 
De  justo  discrimincB  theologicB  bibliccB  et  dogmaticcB,  Altdorf,  1787. 
In  this  essay  the  principle  was  laid  down,  that  the  distinction 

*  By  A.  F.  Busching,  Epitome  Theologice  e  solis  Uteris  sacris  concinnatce, 
LemgoviEe,  1757;  W.  A.  Teller,  Lehrhiich  des  christlichen  Glaubens,  Helmstadt, 
1764;   and  To  pice  sacrce.  Scripturce,  Lipsiae,  1761. 

°  K.  F.  Bahrdt  in  his  Versuch  eines  biblischen  Systems  der  Dogmatik,  Gotha 
and  Leipzig,  1769,  1770,  had  already  written  from  an  extreme  rationalistic  view- 
point.    Cf.  von  Colin,  Bihlische  Theologie,  Leipzig,  1836,  pp.  20  f. 


THEOLOGY    OF   THE    OLD   TESTAMENT       71 

between  Biblical  Theology  and  Dogmatic  Theology  must  be 
found  in  the  historical  character  of  the  former.  It  was  pointed 
out  that  Dogmatic  Theology  has  to  do  with  general  truths,  not 
limited  by  local  or  temporal  conditions.  But  as  the  theological 
ideas  of  the  Bible  are  found  connected  or  involved  with  or 
mediated  through  local  or  temporal  conditions  and  through 
different  individuals,  consequently  the  determination  of  the  true 
character  of  the  theological  teachings  of  the  Bible  is  essentially 
a  historical  study. 

While  the  immediate  results  of  Gabler's  definition  of  the  new 
science  were  disappointing,  this  was  due  probably  to  the  fact 
that  the  time  was  not  yet  ripe  for  a  full  and  intelligent  applica- 
tion of  his  fundamental  principles.  The  science  of  Higher  or 
Literary  Criticism  was  then  in  its  infancy,  and  the  different 
stages  in  the  development  of  the  religious  teachings  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments  were  only  imperfectly  discerned.  The 
majority  of  scholars  were  still  under  the  sway  of  traditionalism 
and  confessionalism;  while  those  who  were  not  so  trammeled 
were  either  inclined  to  extreme  rationalistic  views,  or  tried  to 
impose  upon  the  Bible  fanciful  theories  of  philosophy  or  his- 
tory, and  thus  reached  results  of  no  historical  value  whatever.^ 

In  the  nature  of  the  case,  until  the  chronological  order  of  the 
literature  of  the  Bible  was  made  out  with  some  degree  of  cer- 
tainty, all  attempts  to  work  out  a  satisfactory  scheme  of  Biblical 
Theology  wxre  doomed  to  failure.  Consequently  progress  in 
this  science  was  largely  determined  by  the  progress  that  was 
being  made  in  the  related  science  of  Higher  Criticism.  At  the 
same  time,  as  work  after  work  appeared,  details  of  the  subject 
became  more  clearly  apprehended,  until  at  last  the  general 
nature  of  the  science  and  of  its  problems  was  well  recognized. 
In  the  works  of  de  Wette,  Bibl.  Dogmaiik  des  A.  iind  N.  T., 
1813  (3d  ed.,  1830),  and  of  D.  G.  C.  von  Colin,  Biblische  The- 
ologie  (posthumous,  edited  by  David  Schulz,  1836),  serious 
attempts  were  made  to  deal  fairly  with  all  aspects  of  the  sub- 
ject. De  Wette  used  the  results  of  his  studies  in  the  literary 
criticism  of  the  Pentateuch,  in  which  field  he  was  one  of  the 
pioneers.     The  method  of  presentation  was  quite  elaborately 

*  Of  such  a  character  were  the  works  of  C.  C.  E.  Schmidt,  Jena,  17S8;  of  G. 
L.  Bauer,  Theologie  d.  A.  T.,  1796;  Heb.  Mythologie  d.  A.u.  N.  T.,  1802;  Bib- 
lische Moral  d.  A.  T.,  1803,  etc.;  and  of  P.  C.  Kaiser,  Die  biblische  Theologie, 
oder  Judaismus  und  Christianismus,  etc.,  1813-21. 


72  RECENT  CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

worked  out  by  von  Colin  (pp.  30  ff.),  with  a  good  understanding 
of  the  essentially  historical  character  of  the  subject.  By  both 
writers  the  fact  that  there  were  great  periods,  each  with  its  own 
characteristics,  in  the  historical  development  of  the  religion  of 
the  Bible  was  clearly  perceived.  But  both  of  these  works  failed, 
in  that  their  writers,  in  spite  of  good  intentions,  were  unable  to 
free  themselves  from  theoretical,  especially  philosophical,  pre- 
suppositions which  were  allowed  to  determine  the  interpreta- 
tion of  Biblical  material  and  thus  vitiated,  to  a  large  extent, 
their  conclusions. 

Contemporaneous  with  the  publication  of  von  Colin' s  work 
was  the  appearance  of  the  first  volume  of  the  projected  Bib- 
lische  Theologie  *  of  Wilhelm  Vatke  (Berlin,  1835).  This  truly 
great  work  (never  completed)  revealed  on  the  part  of  the  author 
a  remarkable  mastery  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  sub- 
ject. Unfortunately,  Vatke's  devotion  to  the  Hegelian  philoso- 
phy was  so  earnest  that  he  used  its  terminology  extensively. 
The  constant  appearance  of  these  clumsy,  abstract  philosophical 
terms  in  the  work  undoubtedly  did  much  to  obscure  its  real 
value.  Few  had  the  patience,  even  if  they  possessed  the  ability, 
to  study  the  work  thoroughly.  Yet  Vatke's  book  stands  prac- 
tically alone  among  the  general  works  on  our  subject  published 
at  that  time  (seventy-five  years  ago)  in  its  harmony  with  the 
essentially  historical  character  of  the  subject  —  and  this  in  spite 
of  the  author's  devotion  to  Hegelianism.  "He  comprehended 
the  history  of  the  Old  Testament  religion  not  only  as  a  logical 
process  in  which  each  separate  phenomenon  had  its  necessary 
place;  he  also,  with  his  deep  interest  in  and  profound  under- 
standing of  the  Old  Testament  literature,  perceived  the  develop- 
ment of  this  literature  as  a  real  movement  full  of  life.  He 
showed  that  the  history  of  Israel's  religion  was  conditioned  by 
the  experiences  of  the  people,  and  with  keen  insight  judged  the 
specific  historical  and  literary  problems  according  to  this  fact. 
He  was  the  first  to  discover  that  the  Law,  as  such,  had  its  his- 
torical place  after  and  not  before  Prophecy.  Consequently,  he 
taught  that  three  great  periods  must  be  distinguished  in  the 
history  of  the  Old  Testament  religion,  the  pre-prophetic,  pro- 
phetic, and  post-prophetic."  (Smend,  Alttestamentliche  Re- 
ligions geschichte,  pp.  3  f.) 

*  With  the  significant  sub-title,  Die  Religion  des  Alien  Testaments. 


THEOLOGY    OF   THE    OLD   TESTAMENT 


73 


As  has  been  indicated,  Vatke's  work  failed  of  making  any 
great  impression.  He  did  not  set  forth  the  critical  process 
through  which  he  had  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  the  Law 
was  subsequent  to  the  Prophets.  His  contemporary  Eduard 
Reuss  had  reached  the  same  conclusion  in  1833,  but  refrained 
from  making  this  known  outside  of  his  lecture-room  until  1879. 
Consequently,  Vatke's  critical  position  was  altogether  new 
and,  being  undefended  and  its  grounds  unknown,  it  found  no 
adherents. 

Both  von  Colin  and  Vatke,  as  well  as  other  early  workers  in 
this  field,  included  the  theology  of  the  New  Testament  as  well 
as  that  of  the  Old  in  their  field  of  labor.*  With  the  rapid  de- 
velopment of  critical  study  and  the  ever  increasing  number  of 
difficult  historical  and  literary  problems  peculiar  to  each  depart- 
ment, subsequent  workers  have  been  more  inclined  to  limit 
themselves  largely  to  one  or  the  other  of  the  two  main  fields, 
although  the  number  of  those  whose  work  has  covered  the 
whole  Bible  is  by  no  means  small.  With  the  exception  of 
Ewald,  the  most  eminent  names  in  our  science  have  confined 
themselves  to  one  Testament. 

From  Vatke  (1836)  to  Graf  (1866)  little  progress  was  made 
in  the  study  of  Old  Testament  Theology  as  such.  The  atten- 
tion of  the  ablest  Old  Testament  scholars  was  concentrated  on 
the  literary  criticism  of  the  Old  Testament,  especially  of  the 
Pentateuch,  and  until  that  problem  was  solved  little  could  be 
done  in  the  way  of  tracing  the  development  of  the  religious 
ideas  or  teachings  of  the  Old  Testament.  It  is  probable  that 
the  most  important  contributions  to  the  science  in  this  period 
are  to  be  found  in  the  works  of  H.  Ewald  (Die  Propheten  des 
Alien  Bundes,  1840-41 ;  and  Geschichte  des  Volkes  Israel, 
1843-59).  The  works  of  Bruno  Bauer  (1838,  1839)  and  of 
L.  Noack  (1853),  both  from  the  Hegelian  standpoint,  of  C.  von 
Lengerke  (1844),  from  a  more  critical  standpoint,  of  S.  Lutz 
(1847),  ^rom  a  confessional  point  of  view,  of  Steudel  (ed.  Oehler, 
1840)  and  Havernick  (ed.  Hahn,  1848),  both  apologetic  in  pur- 
pose, contained  little  of  permanent  value. 

The  widespread  and  rapid  acceptance,  in  its  general  outlines, 
of  the  critical  theory  of  the  development  of  the  Old  Testament 

'  Though  the  New  Testament  part  of  Vatke's  work  was  never  published. 


74  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

literature  propounded  by  K.  H.  Graf  (1866)  and  A.  Kuenen 
(1861-65),  and  further  developed  by  a  number  of  eminent 
Old  Testament  scholars,  was  almost  immediately  fruitful  in 
bringing  about  a  new  period  in  the  study  of  Old  Testament 
Theology.  It  was  at  last  possible  to  interpret  the  Old  Testa- 
ment material  in  such  a  way  as  to  discover  the  steps  or  stages  of 
development  through  which  the  religion  of  Israel  passed.  The 
historical  character  of  the  Old  Testament  religion  was  more 
clearly  discerned.  The  position  taken  by  Vatke  so  many  years 
before  was  now  vindicated.  The  intimate  relationship  exist- 
ing between  the  history  of  the  Old  Testament  literature  and 
the  history  of  Israel's  religion  became  ever  more  convincingly 
apparent. 

Corresponding  to  this  new  period  in  the  method  of  the  study 
and  interpretation  of  the  Old  Testament  has  been  the  great, 
even  amazing,  increase  in  our  knowledge  of  the  ancient  history 
of  Western  Asia  through  the  decipherment  of  the  ancient  Baby- 
lonian, Assyrian,  Egyptian,  and  other  records  belonging  to  the 
peoples  contemporary  with  and  either  neighbors  to  or  masters 
of  Israel.  Through  the  recovery  of  so  much  of  the  ancient  liter- 
ature of  these  peoples,  their  manners  and  customs,  their  reli- 
gious systems  and  beliefs,  are  now  becoming  understood  on  the 
basis  of  their  own  records,  and  it  is  astonishing  to  find  at  how 
many  points  these  records  and  the  Old  Testament  touch  upon, 
the  same  or  closely  related  matters.  Many  Old  Testament 
statements  have  come  to  be  understood  in  an  entirely  new  light. 
Ideas  and  customs,  once  thought  to  be  the  peculiar  property  of 
Israel  and  original  with  her,  have  been  found  to  have  been  either 
the  common  property  of  the  ancient  Semitic  world,  or  to  have 
been  borrowed  by  Israel  from  some  other  Semitic  people. 

From  the  general  field  of  Comparative  Religion  also  the 
investigations  carried  on  by  many  scholars  during  the  past  few 
decades  have  gathered  much  information,  especially  as  regards 
primitive  types  of  religious  beliefs  and  practices  which  had  a 
tendency  to  linger  long  after  their  original  significance  had  been 
forgotten.  By  this  means  many  obscure  and  difficult  passages 
in  the  Old  Testament  have  come  to  be  better  understood,  and 
much  that  was  once  thought  to  belong  to  the  revealed  religion 
of  Israel  is  now  seen  to  have  belonged  to  the  early  and  more 
primitive  stages  of  Israel's  religion. 


THEOLOGY    OF   THE    OLD   TESTAMENT       75 

In  view  of  these  facts,  the  science  of  Old  Testament  Theology 
has  assumed,  in  recent  years,  a  significance  and  importance 
that  would  have  been  inconceivable  thirty  or  forty  years  ago. 
It  is  the  function  of  Old  Testament  Theology  to  assemble  and 
arrange  in  the  order  of  their  progressive  development  the  facts, 
in  the  broadest  sense  of  the  word,  germane  to  the  religion  of 
Israel.  In  the  nature  of  the  case,  the  field  from  which  the  Old 
Testament  theologian  draws  his  material  cannot  be  strictly 
confined  to  the  canonical  books  of  the  Old  Testament.  It  is 
true,  and  will  ever  remain  so,  that  these  books  are  our  main 
source  of  information  regarding  Israel's  religion  and  that  they 
contain  a  revelation  of  divine  truth  such  as  cannot  be  affirmed 
of  any  other  writings  of  that  ancient  world.  But  it  is  just  as 
true  that  the  information  gained  from  other  sources  often  sup- 
plements or  completes  that  contained  in  the  Old  Testament 
itself  in  such  important  respects  that  we  cannot  afford  to  neglect 
it.  This  is  the  case  not  only  with  the  material  contained  in  the 
Old  Testament  Apocrypha  and  Pseudepigrapha,  through  which 
we  are  able  to  trace  the  development  of  Israel's  religion  into 
New  Testament  times,  but  also  with  all  other  sources  of  infor- 
mation, whether  Israelitic  or  not. 

What  has  just  been  said  is  based  on  the  view  that  Old 
Testament  Theology  should  concern  itself  with  setting  forth  the 
religious  (and  ethical)  phases  of  Israel's  history  in  a  purely 
objective  way.  The  Old  Testament  literature  is  thus  viewed 
primarily  as  a  source  of  information,  not  as  a  source  of  doctrine. 
Biblical  Theology  (as  a  whole)  is  not  to  be  defined  as  a  presenta- 
tion of  the  religious  (and  ethical)  teachings  of  the  Bible,  but  as 
a  presentation  of  the  religious  and  ethical  facts  (ideas,  institu- 
tions, etc.)  of  the  Bible.  In  this  there  is  no  danger  of  belittling 
the  authority  of  the  Bible  as  containing  a  revelation.  If  the 
facts  of  the  religious  development  contained  in  the  Bible  are 
presented  accurately,  as  they  were  in  themselves  and  in  their 
relation  to  their  environment,  whatever  divine  authority  or 
character  these  facts  possess  will  be  apparent  of  itself.  It  is 
the  task  of  Systematic  Theology  to  gather  from  Biblical 
Theology  the  permanent,  universal,  and  authoritative  truths 
given  in  the  historical  development  of  the  Biblical  religion 
and  to  make  these  the  fundamental  elements  of  its  system  of 
doctrine. 


76  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

Such  being  the  nature  and  task  of  Old  Testament  Theology, 
the  method  of  treatment  of  the  subject  becomes  a  matter  of  no 
small  moment.  We  are  not  concerned  here  with  the  method  to 
be  adopted  in  a  monograph  restricted  to  some  specific  topic. 
The  number  of  such  monographs  is  constantly  increasing,  and 
among  them  are  to  be  found  many  of  the  most  valuable  contri- 
butions to  Old  Testament  Theology.  Such  studies  should 
always  be  strictly  scientific  in  character  and  should  follow  the 
method  best  adapted  to  the  nature  of  their  subject.  It  is  rather 
with  the  method  proper  to  a  general  work  on  Old  Testament 
Theology  that  we  are  here  concerned. 

Most  modern  works  on  our  subject  can  be  classified  into 
three  groups,  according  as  they  follow  one  of  three  different 
methods. 

We  have,  first,  the  method  dominated  by  the  idea  that  the  Old 
Testament  is  primarily  a  didactic  book  and  that  Old  Testament 
Theology  is  mainly  an  exhibition  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Old 
Testament.  In  such  treatises  the  fundamentally  historical 
nature  of  the  subject  is  neglected.  The  method  of  these 
treatises  is  necessarily  topical.  The  Bible  itself  exhibits  no 
formal  system  of  doctrine,  and  in  an  Old  Testament  or  a  New 
Testament  Theology  constructed  on  the  topical-doctrinal  plan 
the  arrangement  is  necessarily  somewhat  arbitrary,  the  main 
headings  being  borrowed  from  Systematic  Theology.  Theo- 
retically, it  may  be  possible  to  make  use  of  a  topical  arrange- 
ment and  treat  each  subject  so  as  to  show  its  historical  develop- 
ment. But  practically,  even  this  use  of  the  method  labors 
under  serious  disadvantages.  For  no  religious  idea  in  the  Old 
Testament  was  developed,  or  even  revealed,  by  itself,  apart  from 
intimate  relations  to  other  ideas  and  to  the  general  religious  con- 
ditions existing  and  changing  from  time  to  time.  Consequently, 
a  topical  method,  in  order  to  exhibit  the  historical  development 
of  each  of  the  different  religious  ideas  or  practices,  must  neces- 
sarily go  over  the  same  ground  with  each  separate  subject. 
Even  then  it  is  impossible  to  present  each  subject  in  its  true 
character  as  but  a  part  of  a  general  situation  in  which  many 
ideas  existed  side  by  side,  mutually  conditioning  one  another 
and  all  moving  forward  together  under  the  same  general  cir- 
cumstances. The  finest  topical  treatment  of  Old  Testament 
Theology  in  English  is  probably  that  by  the  late  Dr.  A.  B. 


THEOLOGY   OF   THE    OLD   TESTAMENT       77 

Davidson,'  in  which  the  four  main  topics  are,  The  Doctrine 
of  God,  of  Man,  of  Redemption,  and  of  the  Last  Things. 
But  with  all  its  excellences,  this  work  fails  to  give  its  reader 
an  adequate  idea  of  the  actual  course  of  the  Old  Testament 
religion. 

A  second  method  seeks  to  combine  the  historical  with  the 
topical  or  doctrinal  arrangement.  This  is  the  method  followed 
by  H.  Schultz,  Alttestanientliche  Theologie  (5  Aufl.,  1896), 
who  devotes  the  first  division  of  his  work  to  ''The  Development 
of  the  Religion  and  Ethics  of  Israel  to  the  Establishment  of  the 
Hasmonaean  State,"  and  the  second  to  "The  Religion  of  the 
Community  (Gemeinde)  of  the  Second  Temple."  In  this  work, 
by  an  acknowledged  master  in  our  field,  the  historical  nature  of 
the  subject  is  constantly  recognized  and  its  importance  clearly 
perceived.  But  it  was  a  mistake  to  trace  the  development,  some- 
what summarily,  down  to  the  Maccabaean  times  and  then  to 
single  out  the  last  great  period,  that  of  the  Second  Temple, 
which,  though  dominated  by  the  legal  spirit,  was  also  full  of 
complicated  movements  and  changes  of  opinion,  for  an  extended 
topical  treatment  which  takes  up  one  half  of  the  whole  work. 
In  this  second  half  the  reader  loses  touch  with  the  historical 
development  almost  entirely.  The  same  general  defect,  and  to 
a  greater  degree,  mars  the  (posthumous)  work  of  A.  Dillmann, 
Handhuch  der  Alttestavientlichen  Theologie  (1895),  in  which  a 
sketch  of  the  history  of  the  Old  Testament  religion  (pp.  75-201) 
is  followed  by  a  "Lehrteil,"  or  doctrinal  part  (pp.  202-544), 
which  presents  the  Old  Testament  doctrine  under  three  main 
topics,  God,  Man,  and  the  Kingdom  of  God.  In  this  work, 
from  one  of  the  ablest  Old  Testament  scholars  of  modern  times, 
the  conception  of  the  Old  Testament  as  a  doctrinal  book  com- 
pletely overshadows  the  truth  that  it  is  first  of  all  a  historical 
record.  Nevertheless,  Dillmann's  work  contains  much  that  is 
of  great  value. 

The  third  and  correct  method  seeks  to  show  how  in  succes- 
sive periods,  each  one  of  which  had  its  own  distinctive  features, 
the  Old  Testament  religion  moved  forward,  developing,  chang- 
ing, presenting  many  and  varying  aspects  according  as  persons, 

•  The  Theology  of  the  Old  Testament,  in  the  International  Theological  Library 
(1904).  Another  excellent  work  of  the  same  class  is  the  Biblical  Dogmatics  of 
M.  S.  Terry. 


78  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

times,  and  other  circumstances  changed.  In  some  works  the 
recognition  of  this  as  the  true  method  appears  only  in  the  main 
subdivisions,  while  it  is  neglected  in  the  actual  discussion.  This 
is  especially  true  of  the  work  of  G.  F.  Oehler  (1873-74)  with  its 
three  main  divisions,  Nomism,  Prophetism,  and  the  Wisdom 
period,  which  utterly  fails  to  perceive  the  vital  character  of  the 
Old  Testament  religion.  The  AlttestamentUche  Theologie  of 
Dr.  Eduard  Riehm  (1889)  subdivides  the  history  of  the  Old 
Testament  religion  into  three  periods,  Mosaism,  Prophetism,  and 
post-exilic  Judaism.  Riehm  marks  a  great  advance  over  Oehler, 
but  his  discussion  is  likewise  dominated  by  the  doctrinal  instead 
of  the  historical  conception  of  the  subject. 

Over  against  such  works  as  these  may  be  placed,  as  more 
clearly  and  consistently  exhibiting  the  essentially  historical 
character  of  our  science,  the  great  work  of  A.  Kuenen,  on  The 
Religion  of  Israel  (De  Godsdienst  van  Israel,  Eng.  trans.,  1874- 
75);  the  treatise  by  B.  Duhm,  Die  Theologie  der  Propheten 
(1875),  one  of  the  first  essays  in  this  line  on  the  basis  of  the  Graf- 
Wellhausen  critical  theory;  and  the  brief  sketch  by  August 
Kayser,  Die  Theologie  des  Alten  Testaments  (ist  ed.  1886,  2d  ed. 
by  K.  Marti,  1894;  3d  1897,  4th  1903,  and  5th  1907,  eds.  also  by 
K.  Marti,  under  the  title,  Geschichte  der  israelitischen  Religion). 
The  fifth  edition  by  Marti  gives  a  most  excellent  brief  treatment 
of  the  whole  subject.  The  Lehrbuch  der  Alttestamentlichen 
Religions  geschichte  by  Rudolph  Smend  (2d  ed.  1899)  has  be- 
come a  standard  work,  although  the  historical  development  of 
Israel's  religion  is  not  so  well  presented  in  it  as  it  is  in  the  briefer 
treatise  of  Kayser-Marti.  The  recent  treatise  by  B.  Stade 
(since  deceased),  Biblische  Theologie  des  Alten  Testaments; 
erster  Band,  die  Religion  Israels  und  die  Entstehung  des  Juden- 
Ihums  (1905),  contains  the  fruit  of  many  years'  study  by  one  of 
the  ablest  scholars  of  modern  times.  In  the  extensive  treatment 
of  the  Religion  of  Israel  by  E.  Kautzsch  in  Hastings'  Dictionary 
of  the  Bible,  Extra  Volume  (pp.  612-734),  written  in  a  most 
admirable  spirit,  the  results  of  the  many  and  varied  investiga- 
tions of  leading  scholars  during  the  past  decades  will  be  found 
to  be  presented  with  conspicuous  ability  and  sound  judgment. 
In  the  past  few  years  some  excellent  short  treatises  have  been 
published  which  are  worthy  of  mention,  such  as  The  Religion 
of  Israel  by  R.  L.  Ottley  (1905),  Hebrew  Religion  by  W.  E. 


THEOLOGY    OF   THE    OLD   TESTAMENT 


79 


Addis  (1906),  and  The  Religion  of  the  Old  Testament  by  K. 
Marti  (Eng.  trans.,  1907). 

From  what  has  been  said  it  need  not  be  thought  that  the  last 
word  has  been  uttered  in  Old  Testament  Theology.  Excellent 
as  the  last-mentioned  works  may  be,  in  many  respects  they  leave 
important  problems  still  unsolved.  Monographs  that  have 
appeared  but  very  lately,  such  as  by  Baentsch,  Altorientalische 
und  israelitische  Monotheismus  (1906);  by  E.  Meyer,  Die 
Israeliten  und  ihre  Nachharstdmme  (1906);  by  P.  Volz,  Mose 
(1907);  by  D.  Nielsen,  Die  altarahische  Mondreligion  (1904); 
by  R.  Kittel,  Studien  zur  Heb.  Archdologie  und  Religions ge- 
schichte  (1908);  and  many  others  on  a  great  variety  of  topics 
show  only  too  plainly  how  far  we  are,  as  yet,  from  a  satisfactory 
solution  of  many  important  questions  in  the  field  of  Old  Testa- 
ment Religion.  The  great  stages  of  the  development,  and  the 
literature  that  belongs  to  these  and  reveals  their  general  char- 
acter, have  been  satisfactorily  made  out,  but  many  details  are 
not  yet  perfectly  understood.* 

'  See  the  later  article  by  the  same  author  on  New  Testament  Theology, 
p.  132. 


THE  APOCRYPHA 

Rev.  John  Luther  Kilbon 
Park  Congregational  Church,  Springfield,  Mass. 

There  is  no  need  to  begin  this  sketch  with  an  outline  of  the 
condition  of  the  study  of  the  Apocrypha  in  1834.  The  collec- 
tion of  writings  which  bear  that  name  not  only  failed  to  interest 
the  scholars  of  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  but  at- 
tention to  them  by  way  of  careful  study  was  rather  disreputable. 
The  echoes  still  rang  of  the  great  fight  which  in  1827  had  even- 
tuated in  the  refusal  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society 
to  give  aid  to  any  organization  that  circulated  the  Apocrypha. 
The  truly  orthodox  Scotchmen  had  insisted  on  this  course  for 
many  years,  while  the  auxiliaries  in  Continental  Europe  had 
been  equally  clear  that  the  Bibles  circulated  by  them  must  con- 
tain the  Apocryphal  books.  Yet  this  insistence  led  to  no  careful 
study  by  scholars  of  the  nature  and  contents  of  these  writings. 
Neither  those  who  considered  the  inclusion  of  the  Apocrypha  a 
concession  to  Popery,  nor  those  who  felt  that  a  sort  of  second- 
ary inspiration  demanded  their  wide  circulation,  really  thought 
them  worthy  of  study. 

Yet  by  indirection  the  Apocrypha  won  some  little  attention. 
The  books  thus  indicated  were  included  in  the  fifth  volume  of 
Holmes  and  Parsons'  edition  of  the  Septuagint,  which  appeared 
in  the  very  year  when  the  Bible  Society  resolved  to  have  nothing 
more  to  do  with  extra-canonical  writings.  To  this  day  the  colla- 
tion of  Holmes  and  Parsons  remains  the  only  available  record  of 
the  readings  of  several  important  mss.  Even  those  scholars  who 
find  fault  with  the  edition  as  below  modern  standards  of  accu- 
racy are  driven  back  to  it  in  their  attempt  to  get  a  satisfactory 
text. 

But  the  few  scholarly  divines  who  owned  Holmes  and  Parsons' 
Septuagint  in  1834  used  the  fifth  volume  least  of  all.  Few  read 
the  Apocrypha;  none  studied  them.     The  theory  of  revelation, 

80 


THE   APOCRYPHA  8i 

then  almost  universally  prevalent  in  Germany  as  well  as  in 
England,  among  Unitarians  as  well  as  in  orthodox  circles,  made 
it  seem  a  waste  of  time  to  study  books  which  had  no  direct 
value  as  a  source  of  doctrine. 

It  would  be  too  much  to  claim  that  the  study  of  the  Apocry- 
pha has  become  established  as  a  necessity  to  the  well-equipped 
theologian.  A  minister  may  be  recognized  as  a  man  of  scholarly 
attainments  who  hardly  knows  more  of  them  than  their  collective 
name.  Probably  he  owns  no  copy  of  them  outside  of  the  Septua- 
gint.  His  attention  is  called  to  them  in  the  theological  seminary 
in  most  cases  only  by  casual  reference.  Yet  all  the  seminaries 
now  offer  some  opportunity  for  acquaintance  with  them;  you  find 
now  and  then  a  quotation  by  a  modern  preacher  from  the  Wis- 
dom of  Jesus  ben-Sirach,  and  such  quotations  no  longer  make 
the  pious  tremble  for  the  preacher's  soundness  in  the  faith.  Es- 
pecially is  there  increasing  recognition  of  the  importance  of  the 
Apocryphal  literature  to  an  understanding  of  the  progress  of 
Hebrew  thought  and  to  a  comprehension  of  the  background  of 
the  New  Testament. 

The  seventy-five  years  under  review  have  had  results  in  the 
matter  both  of  text  and  of  expositions.  In  1834  Codex  Vati- 
canus  was  inaccessible.  Holmes  and  Parsons  collated  it  for 
Judith,  Tobit,  i  Esdras,  and  the  additions  to  Esther,  when  further 
access  to  it  was  denied  them.  Tischendorf  and  Tregelles  both 
had  similar  tantalizing  experiences,  though  both  were  concerned 
more  with  the  New  Testament  than  with  the  Septuagint.  The 
first  printed  edition  was  held  back  for  twenty  years  or  more 
before  it  became  available  in  1857.  A  better  edition  was  prmted 
in  1 88 1,  but  it  was  not  until  1890  that  the  photographic  fac- 
simile first  made  its  appearance. 

The  discovery  of  the  Codex  Sinaiticus  was  the  only  other  great 
event  in  this  department  of  study.  The  romantic  story  of  the 
rescue  of  the  MS.  from  the  waste-basket  of  the  monastery  and 
its  journeyings  to  its  resting-place  in  St.  Petersburg  has  been 
told  too  often  to  need  repetition  in  this  brief  outline.  The 
publication  of  the  MS.  in  1862  placed  a  new  wealth  of  critical 
material  in  the  hands  of  scholars.  Neither  of  these  great  codices 
is  comj)lete  in  the  Apocrypha,  but  one  or  the  other  at  least 
gives  help  in  every  book  except  2  Maccabees  and  the  Prayer  of 
Manasseh. 


82  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

In  1845  Tischendorf  published  the  Old  Testament  portions 
of  the  text  which  he  rescued  from  the  famous  palimpsest  known 
as  C.  Here  are  found  for  the  Apocrypha  only  parts  of  Wisdom 
and  Ecclesiasticus. 

In  the  field  of  critical  apparatus  mention  should  be  made  also  of 
the  publication  of  an  autotype  fascimile  of  Codex  Alexandrinus. 
This  codex  formed  the  basis  of  the  edition  of  Holmes  and  Parsons 
and  was  generally  accessible  to  scholars  of  accredited  standing 
who  could  go  to  the  Bodleian  Library  at  Oxford;  but  a  fac- 
simile makes  the  testimony  of  the  codex  available  for  scholars  in 
all  parts  of  the  world.    The  date  of  this  publication  was  1881-83. 

The  era  of  photographic  reproductions  of  the  great  uncials 
is  still  too  recent  to  allow  of  the  publication  of  a  complete 
critical  text  of  the  Septuagint.  Two  editions  sufficiently  critical 
to  serve  practical  purposes  have  appeared,  however,  and  the 
Cambridge  University  Press  has  in  preparation  a  monumental 
edition  which  will  contain  a  complete  critical  apparatus.  It  is 
doubtful  whether  the  centennial  volume  which  Hartford  Theo- 
logical Seminary  may  issue  in  1934  will  record  the  completion 
of  this  work,  the  first  fascicle  of  which  is  still  fresh  from  the  press, 
but  the  first  volume  will  be  completed  before  many  years. 

The  other  editions  referred  to  are  those  of  Nestle  and  Swete. 
Nestle's  is  the  seventh  edition  of  Tischendorf's  work,  and  was 
published  in  1890.  Tischendorf  based  his  text  upon  that 
printed  first  at  the  instance  of  Pope  Sixtus  V  in  1587,  which 
used  Codex  B  as  its  chief  authority,  though  a  number  of  other 
Mss.  were  carefully  collated  by  the  editors.  Nestle's  work  gives 
the  variants  of  X,  B,  C,  and  A,  supplementing  a  text  which  rep- 
resents his  own  skillful,  but  imperfectly  informed  recension  of 
the  Sixtine  text  as  revised  by  Tischendorf. 

Swete's  text  is  the  foundation  of  the  Cambridge  edition,  and 
is  to  be  used  in  the  complete  critical  work.  It  is  based  chiefly 
on  B,  but  gives  the  variants  and  supplements  of  several  other 
important  uncials.  The  three  volumes  of  the  second  edition 
of  this  text,  in  the  preparation  of  which  Nestle  collaborated, 
were  issued  in  1895-99.  The  cooperation  of  Nestle  brings 
this  edition  into  line  as  representing  the  latest  and  best  work 
available  to  the  public,  but  its  rule  of  following  some  one  MS. 
(B  where  it  is  available)  makes  it  less  satisfactory  than,  for 
instance,  the  Greek  New  Testaments  of  Tischendorf  or  West- 


THE   APOCRYPHA  83 

cott  and  Hort.  It  must  be  conceded  that  for  the  present  this 
method  is  the  only  practicable  way  of  publishing  a  critical  edi- 
tion of  the  Septuagint,  since  the  material  is  both  more  massive 
and  less  available  than  in  the  case  of  the  New  Testament,  while 
the  determination  of  the  "families"  of  mss.  is  much  less 
simple  than  in  the  case  of  the  New  Testament.  Yet  the  fact 
that  B,  most  noble  of  witnesses  to  the  New  Testament,  is  posi- 
tively inferior  in  so  important  a  book  as  Ecclesiasticus,  makes 
one  wish  that  Lagarde  had  been  a  good  executive  as  well  as  a 
great  scholar. 

For  our  review  must  include  mention  of  the  undertaking  which 
was  cut  short  by  Paul  de  Lagarde's  death  in  1891.  He  had 
gathered  much  material  and  had  begun  work  on  an  edition 
which  was  intended  to  exhibit  the  recension  of  Lucian,  desiring 
also  to  interest  some  other  competent  scholar  in  preparing  an 
edition  according  to  the  readings  of  Hesychius.  But,  so  far  from 
setting  such  a  scholar  at  work,  even  that  which  he  himself  under- 
took was  left  unfinished,  and  the  material  he  collected  is  still 
beyond  reach. 

Something  of  the  same  purpose,  but  more  comprehensive,  is 
the  work  of  F.  Field,  Origenis  Hexaplorum  qucB  supersunt, 
which  was  published  in  1875,  and  which  contains  all  the  material 
then  known  for  a  reconstruction  of  Origcn's  own  critical  text. 
Much  new  material  makes  a  revision  of  this  work  the  most 
promising  step  forward  toward  approximation  to  knowledge  of 
at  least  one  of  the  "families"  of  the  mss.  of  the  LXX. 

During  the  last  dozen  years,  the  questions  about  the  text  of 
Ecclesiasticus  have  attracted  more  attention  than  any  others 
within  the  field  we  are  considering.  This  book,  unlike  some 
others  in  the  Apocrypha,  was  certainly  written  first  in  Hebrew, 
and  Jerome  declared  that  he  had  seen  a  copy  of  it  in  that  lan- 
guage. But  he  was  the  last  man  to  have  that  privilege,  or  at 
least  to  notice  it,  until  1896,  when  a  fragment  in  Hebrew  was 
discovered.  Within  a  few  years  other  bits  came  to  light,  repre- 
senting in  all  about  four  fifths  of  the  book.  The  unique  nature 
of  this  discovery,  coupled  with  the  intrinsic  value  of  the  book, 
has  led  to  the  production  of  a  considerable  mass  of  litera- 
ture. Criticisms,  arguments,  discoveries,  comments,  have  been 
printed  in  many  journals  and  not  a  few  books.  The  material 
may  still  be  said  to  be  undigested,  and  the  book  which  sums 


84  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

the  whole  matter  up  has  not  yet  been  published.  The  Hebrew- 
fragments,  however,  were  published  by  the  universities  of  Ox- 
ford and  Cambridge  in  facsimile  in  1901,  and  the  work  of  schol- 
ars will  undoubtedly  soon  bring  the  learned  world  to  something 
like  a  conclusion  regarding  the  value  of  the  Hebrew  text  and 
the  nature  of  the  original  text. 

The  second  line  of  work  on  the  Apocrypha  during  the  past 
seventy-five  years  has  been  in  the  production  of  commentaries. 
I  have  been  unable  to  find  bibliographical  notice  of  any  work 
of  this  character  published  before  1834  sufficiently  important  to 
require  attention.  Even  in  Germany,  where  the  Apocrypha  are 
included  more  generally  in  vernacular  Bibles  than  is  the  case 
with  us,  the  field  was  unworked.  The  first  important  modern 
commentary  on  the  Apocrypha,  however,  was  a  German  work, 
that  of  Fritzsche  and  Grimm,  published  at  Leipzig  in  1851-60. 
The  six  volumes  of  this  commentary  remain  a  landmark  in  the 
study  of  the  Apocrypha. 

Second  in  point  of  time  is  the  volume  prepared  by  Professor 
Edwin  Cone  Bissell  of  Hartford  Theological  Seminary  to  ac- 
company the  American  translation  of  Lange's  Commentary. 
This  volume  was  published  in  1880,  and  contained  a  translation 
of  each  of  the  Apocryphal  books,  based  upon  a  careful  revision 
of  the  text  and  compared  with  the  Authorized  Version.  Full 
notes  explain  textual  conclusions,  and  there  are  brief  exegetical 
remarks,  characteristically  careful  and  illuminating. 

England  contributed  to  the  special  study  of  the  Apocrypha 
Ball's  volume,  forming  a  part  of  the  Variorum  Bible  and  pub- 
lished at  London  in  1892.  More  important  was  the  volume  on 
the  Apocrypha  belonging  to  the  Speakers  Commentary,  issued 
under  the  editorship  of  Canon  Wace  in  1888.  Ten  other  schol- 
ars assisted  in  the  preparation  of  this  work,  which  still  stands 
for  the  greater  part  of  the  Apocrypha  as  the  latest  and  best  word 
to  be  found  in  English.  The  only  exception  is  Ecclesiasticus, 
to  the  study  of  which  an  entirely  new  aspect,  as  well  as  a  new 
interest,  have  been  given  by  the  discovery  of  the  Hebrew  texts. 

The  most  complete  summary  of  modern  knowledge  about  the 
Apocrypha  available  in  a  single  work  is  the  book  issued  under 
the  general  direction  of  Professor  E.  Kautzsch  of  Halle,  and 
prepared  by  a  number  of  leading  German  scholars.  It  is  in 
two  volumes,  bearing  the  title   Die  Apokryphen  und    Pseud- 


THE   APOCRYPHA  85 

epigraphen  des  Alien  Testaments,  and  was  published  at  Tubingen 
in  1900.  It  contains  an  elaborate  general  introduction,  a  spe- 
cial introduction  for  each  book,  a  new  German  translation  and 
brief  exegetical  and  critical  notes.  Mention  should  also  be 
made  of  Andre's  Les  Apocryphes  de  VAncien  Testament,  1902. 
For  the  ordinary  student  these  need  supplementing  by  only  two 
hitherto  unpublished  volumes  —  the  Cambridge  editio  critica 
and  a  work  summing  up  the  present  condition  of  knowledge 
regarding  the  text  of  Ecclesiasticus. 

The  character  of  these  works  is  significant  of  the  radical 
change  in  the  motive  and  aim  of  modern  study  of  the  Apocrypha 
as  compared  with  the  attitude  toward  this  group  of  books  taken 
at  the  beginning  of  our  period.  If  any  man  read  or  studied  the 
Apocrypha  then,  he  did  so  for  whatever  direct  value  the  books 
might  have.  This  direct  value,  except  for  i  Maccabees  and 
Ecclesiasticus  (perhaps  also  exception  should  be  made  of  Wis- 
dom), is  so  slight  that  Biblical  scholarship  was  fully  justified  in 
ignoring  the  Apocrypha.  The  modern  student  feels  that  the 
Apocryphal  writers  have  a  historical  value  which  demands 
attention.  The  New  Testament,  and  still  more  the  Christian 
thought  and  life  of  the  sub-apostolic  and  ante-Nicene  periods, 
were  so  deeply  affected  by  Hellenistic  Judaism  that  the  Apocry- 
pha and  the  Jewish  pseudepigrapha  are  essential  to  a  complete 
understanding  of  them.  It  must  therefore  be  that  we  are  really 
now  at  the  beginning  of  a  new  period  of  interest  in  the  study  of 
these  works,  in  which  the  formal  distinction  between  Apocrypha 
and  pseudepigraphic  literature  will  more  and  more  disappear, 
and  in  which  no  man  unacquainted  with  the  results  of  scholar- 
ship in  this  field  will  appear  competent  to  treat  of  the  episdes 
of  Paul  and  the  Fourth  Gospel,  to  say  nothing  of  many  other 
less  important  documents  of  the  early  Christians. 


III.    NEW   TESTAMENT 


NEW   TESTAMENT   PHILOLOGY 

Rev.  Samuel  Angus,  M.A.,  Ph.D. 
Hartford  Theological  Seminary 

The  original  language  of  the  New  Testament  has  now  for 
a  period  of  three  centuries  been  the  object  of  unremitting  study. 
After  the  Renaissance  had  given  impetus  to  the  study  of  the 
classics,  and  the  Reformation  had  of  necessity  led  men  to  go 
back  to  the  originals  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  the 
Greek  of  the  New  Testament  entered  upon  a  period  of  investi- 
gation which  has  persevered  to  our  days. 

In  the  early  seventeenth  century  began  a  keen  debate  between 
the  Purists  and  the  Hebraists.  The  former  claimed  classical 
purity  for  the  New  Testament  Greek,  citing  hosts  of  parallels 
common  to  it  and  the  best  Greek  writers.  They  regarded  it 
as  sacrilege  to  hold  that  the  Holy  Spirit  should  dictate  a  gos- 
pel in  any  inferior  style  of  Greek  prose,  but  they  were  soon  con- 
fronted with  the  insuperable  difficulty  of  accounting  for  the  many 
points  of  divergence  which  defied  classical  precedent,  or  worse, 
which  contravened  classical  usage.  Hence  their  opponents, 
the  Hebraists,  steadily  gained  the  field.  Theirs  was  certainly 
a  more  plausible  case.  They  pointed  out  in  the  Septuagint  and 
New  Testament  a  number  of  Hebraisms  which,  in  the  absence 
of  vernacular  contemporary  Greek,  were  apparently  irrefutable. 
Probability  and  common  sense  seemed  to  be  on  their  side.  What 
could  be  more  natural  than  that  the  New  Testament  should  draw 
largely  upon  the  vocabulary  and  construction  of  the  Septuagint, 
which  appeared  to  be  a  slavishly  literal  translation,  not  avoiding 
but  rather  harboring  contortions  of  Greek  favorable  to  the  sacred 
original?  Besides,  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament  were 
mostly  Jews,  whose  efforts  after  Greek  could  hardly  escape  con- 
tamination through  commerce  with  their  native  Aramaic. 

86 


NEW   TESTAMENT    PHILOLOGY  87 

The  victory  of  the  Hebraist  gave  rise  to  another  view  which 
long  hindered  true  appreciation  and  scientific  study  of  the  New 
Testament  Greek  —  what  we  may  term  '  separatism.'  The  idea 
of  the  Canon  and  the  dogma  of  verbal  inspiration  were  extended 
to  the  language,  which  was  canonized  accordingly.  The  New 
Testament  could  not  appropriately  be  written  either  in  the  idiom 
of  pagan  classicism  or  in  the  common  vulgar  speech  of  the  day. 
The  Holy  Spirit  demanded  a  select  idiom  which  the  dogmatists 
soon  assumed.  Then  classical  scholars  observed  that  New  Tes- 
tament Greek  was  in  style,  vocabulary,  grammar,  and  syntax  far 
from  classical;  they  dubbed  it  vulgar  and  pigeon  Greek,  which 
afforded  them  abundant  scope  for  pedantic  correction. 

But  on  the  period  previous  to  1834  we  may  not  dwell,  this 
volume  requiring  us  to  define  in  outHne  the  progress  of  New  Tes- 
tament Philology  in  the  past  seventy-five  years.  Unfortunately 
the  year  1834  corresponds  exactly  with  no  definite  opening  of  a 
new  epoch  in  our  subject.  We  must  go  back  about  twelve  years 
before  we  find  anything  like  a  clearly  defined  boundary  line.  Still, 
roughly  speaking,  we  may  recognize  in  the  past  seventy-five  years 
two  periods  of  quite  unequal  length,  refusing  to  set  unalterably 
fixed  confines,  as  period  passes  into  period  almost  impercepti- 
bly. The  curtain  nowhere  drops  to  warn  us  that  one  act  is 
finished  and  another  about  to  begin.  Besides,  we  shall  find  in 
each  period  hesitant  laggards  as  well  as  precocious  pioneering 
spirits. 

First,  we  have  a  period  of  sixty  years  (more  correctly,  seventy, 
by  borrowing  a  few  years  previous)  —  the  beginning  of  and  the 
preparation  for  the  fullness  of  the  times  in  which  we  live.  This 
had  been  preceded  by  a  lull  in  activity  till  G.  B.  Winer  in  1822 
published  the  first  edition  of  his  New  Testament  Grammar.  This 
was  an  amazing  work  for  its  day  and  a  protest  to  scholars  against 
the  wild  empiricism  then  in  vogue.  There  had  been  abundant 
observation  of  facts,  but  without  scientific  marshaling.  Lists  of 
examples  and  exceptions,  of  words  and  constructions,  were  com- 
piled, proper  deductions,  however,  failing.  To  most  students  the 
New  Testament  Greek  was  an  aggregate  of  elements  loosely 
thrown  together :  the  writers  could  not  be  interpreted  as  meaning 
literally  what  they  said.  Only  the  faintest  idea  of  the  grammat- 
ical organism  of  the  language  obtained,  so  that  the  relation,  e.g. 
between  tense  and  tense,  mood  and  mood,  was  not  deeply  in- 


88  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

quired  into.  When  a  New  Testament  writer  used  a  form  of  ex- 
pression which  did  not  immediately  fall  in  with  preconceived  ideas, 
the  Greek  in  question  was  submitted  to  a  Procrustean  treatment. 
The  standards  were  external  and  despotic.  Instead  of  tabu- 
lating New  Testament  usages  and  seeming  or  real  irregularities 
with  a  view  to  explanation  or  reduction  to  a  scientific  system, 
they  were  explained  as  departures,  abnormalities,  solecisms. 
Theology,  therefore,  could  march  untrammeled  up  and  down 
the  pages  of  the  New  Testament,  issuing  her  dictatorial  decrees 
irrespective  of  strict  philological  considerations. 

The  change  which  has  since  come  in  the  position  of  Philology 
among  New  Testament  sciences  is  to  be  attributed  in  no  mean 
degree  to  the  previous  activity  of  the  classical  philologists.  The 
new  science  of  Comparative  Philology  had  arisen  and  justified  its 
claim  to  a  position  of  first  importance.  In  the  closing  decades  of 
the  eighteenth  century  English  scholars  like  SirW.  Jones,  Wilkins, 
and  others  had  mediated  between  India  and  Europe  in  bringing 
ancient  Sanskrit  from  British  India  to  the  knowledge  of  European 
scholars,  which  gave  impetus  to  linguistic  study  in  a  new  direction. 
English  scholars  took  the  first  step  in  connecting  Sanskrit  organ- 
ically with  Greek  and  Latin  and  in  producing  translations.  It 
was,  however,  in  Germany  in  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth 
century  that  the  new  science  was  actually  founded.  German 
scholars,  the  Schlegel  brothers,  Herder,  von  Humboldt,  Franz 
Bopp,  and  others  took  up  the  study  of  Sanskrit.  F.  von  Schlegel 
in  Ueher  die  Sprache  und  Weisheit  der  Indier  brought  the  compar- 
ative and  historical  method  to  bear  upon  the  science  of  language 
(1808).  Comparative  Grammar  was  introduced  in  the  work 
entitled  Ueher  das  Konjugationssystem  der  Sanskritsprache 
(Frankfort,  18 16)  by  Franz  Bopp,  who  is  usually  regarded  as 
the  father  of  modern  Comparative  Philology.  Scholars  came  to 
recognize  that  the  languages  of  the  Indo-Germanic  (called  also 
Indo-European  and  Aryan)  family  stood  in  various  degrees  of 
relationship  to  one  another,  being  all  descended  from  one  origi- 
nal tongue.  Hence  one  language  could  be  used  to  cast  light 
upon  the  obscurities  of  another  of  the  same  group.  Not  only  the 
development  in  the  widening  or  narrowing  meaning  of  words 
could  be  studied,  but  the  steps  by  which  men  attempted  to  ex- 
press their  thoughts  and  the  relation  between  thought  and  thought. 
To  Descriptive  Grammar,  which  occupies  itself  with  classifying 


NEW   TESTAMENT   PHILOLOGY  89 

and  describing  words  as  separate  entities  and  registering  the 
changes  they  undergo  in  relation  to  certain  conditions,  was  added 
Comparative  Grammar,  which  analyzes  words,  accounts  for  their 
forms,  and  pries  into  their  origin  —  thus  dealing  with  the 
growth  of  language. 

Winer  foresaw  in  a  measure  the  far-reaching  consequences  of 
this  progressive  comparative  science  for  the  Greek  New  Testa- 
ment, and  embodied  his  belief  in  the  rational  and  historical 
treatment  of  language  in  his  Grammar,  which,  though  it  did  not 
break  entirely  with  the  past,  introduced  a  new  era  in  the  study  of 
New  Testamemt  grammar.  Winer  was  followed  by  A.  Buttmann, 
an  English  edition  of  whose  Grammar  we  owe  to  J.  H.  Thayer. 
To  English-speaking  scholars  are  well  known  the  translations  and 
revisions  of  Winer  by  J.  H.  Thayer  and  W.  F.  Moulton,  especially 
the  work  of  the  latter,  which  has  had  a  wide  influence  on  exegesis 
for  nearly  half  a  century. 

The  awakened  attention  given  to  New  Testament  Greek  study 
was  before  long  directed  also  to  lexicography  and  resulted  in  the 
appearance  of  Wilke's  Clavis  Novi  Testamenti  philologica  (Leip- 
zig and  Dresden,  1841)  — the  first  notable  lexicon  for  over  half  a 
century  (since  that  of  J.  F.  Schleusner  in  1792).  This  famous 
Clavis  has  really  formed  the  basis  of  New  Testament  lexicography 
down  to  our  own  day,  having  been  revised  by  C.  W.  Grimm  in 
1868,  and  attaining  in  Thayer's  translation  and  revision  of  the 
Grimm- Wilke,  A  Greek-English  Lexicon  of  the  New  Testament, 
its  highest  excellence. 

During  this  period  it  became  clear  that  Philology  had  to  do 
with  words  and  forms  in  their  interrelationships,  that  examples 
had  to  be  collected  and  classified  before  proper  inductions  could  be 
made.  Such  a  collection  as  an  organon  for  further  investigation 
in  the  economy  of  study  was  needed,  and  so  appeared  the  Con- 
cordance of  C.  H.  Bruder  (Leipzig,  1842),  endeavoring  to  be  only 
an  improved,  enlarged,  better  arranged,  and  modern  edition  of 
the  old  work  of  Erasmus  Schmid. 

Another  evidence  of  the  philological  activity  of  this  period  is 
seen  in  synonym  studies,  chiefly  Tittmann's  De  Synonymis  in 
Novo  Testamento  and  the  various  editions  of  Trench's  Synonyms 
of  the  New  Testatnent. 

Thus  we  find  in  this  period  the  laying  of  the  broad  foundations 
of  modem  New  Testament  Philology,  the  accumulation  and  ar- 


90  RECENT  CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

rangement  of  material,  the  evidence  of  earnest  purposes,  the  prep- 
aration of  the  instruments  for  further  investigation.  It  is,  how- 
ever, still  a  period  of  contrast,  the  New  Testament  language  being 
regarded  as  standing  by  itself  in  linguistic  isolation.  Philology  is 
still  too  much  under  the  influence  of  the  theologian.  Unfortu- 
nately the  eyes  of  the  sober  workers  of  this  period  were  not 
permitted  to  behold  the  richest  additions  made  to  our  knowledge 
of  contemporary  Greek  that  render  New  Testament  Philology 
one  of  the  most  fascinating  of  studies.  Yet  Bockh's  Corpus 
Inscriptionum  Grcscarum  had  begun  to  appear  in  1828,  so  they 
had  material  which  they  left  unworked,  the  accessibility  of  which 
makes  the  lack  of  epigraph ical  interest  inexcusable. 

About  fifteen  years  ago  began  the  modern  period  of  New  Tes- 
tament Philology  brought  about  by  the  interest  created  by  the 
unexpected  discoveries  of  recent  years.  The  name  of  Adolf 
Deissmann  deserves  an  honored  place  as  being  the  first  to  show 
us  (in  his  Bibelstudien  of  1895  and  Neue  Bibelstudien  of  1897) 
that  the  language  of  the  New  Testament  is  lexically  part  and 
parcel  of  the  colloquial  Greek  of  that  day  extant  in  inscriptions, 
papyri,  and  ostraca,  that  the  New  Testament  is  not  primarily  a 
literary,  but  a  spoken  living  language.  Then  the  renowned  phi- 
lologist, Albert  Thumb,  in  a  book  {Die  griechische  Sprache  im 
Zeitalter  des  Hellenismus,  Strassburg,  1901),  which  no  New  Tes- 
tament student  may  neglect,  took  another  great  step.  Deissmann 
had  connected  the  New  Testament  language  lexically  with  that  of 
its  day,  but  Thumb  not  only  made  clear  to  us  the  nature  of  the 
common  dialect,  but  placed  the  New  Testament  language  in  line 
with  the  unbroken  development  of  the  whole  Greek  tongue. 
Against  the  Hebraisms,  which  Deissmann  attacked  from  the  evi- 
dence of  contemporary  documents.  Thumb  brought  to  bear  his  ex- 
tensive knowledge  of  modern  Greek,  which  he  showed  must  hence- 
forth form  part  of  the  curriculum  of  every  New  Testament  philolo- 
gist. Yet  another  name  stands  prominent  in  this  period,  that 
of  the  Hellenist,  James  Hope  Moulton,  who  first  supplemented 
and  corroborated  the  lexical  discoveries  of  Deissmann  by  inde- 
pendent work  upon  other  finds  of  inscriptions  and  papyri.  Then, 
not  forgetting  the  services  of  modern  Greek  which  Thumb  advo- 
cated, he  entered  the  department  which  he  has  made  his  own, 
demonstrating  in  his  Prolegomena  that  New  Testament  grammar 
is   virtually   that   of   the   contemporary    vernacular.     Though 


NEW   TESTAMENT   PHILOLOGY  91 

many  New  Testament  grammatical  works  were  in  the  field,  the 
author  of  the  Prolegomena  produced  an  absolutely  independent 
and  epoch-making  work,  the  second  volume  of  which  is  now  in 
the  press. 

A  year  before  Deissmann's  first  work  Schmiedel  had  inaugu- 
rated the  era  of  recent  New  Testament  grammatical  activity  in  his 
revision  (the  eighth  edition)  of  Winer,  which  began  to  appear  in 
1892.  But  Schmiedel  allowed  himself  to  be  swayed  too  often  by 
the  previous  work  of  Winer :  he  advanced  most  in  availing  him- 
self of  the  Greek  inscriptions.  Then  followed  Blass's  Grammar 
of  New  Testament  Greek  (English  translation  by  Thackeray), 
still  hesitating  even  in  the  second  edition  between  the  old  and 
the  new.  Two  other  New  Testament  Grammars,  one  by  L. 
Radermacher  and  one  by  A.  T.  Robertson,  are  promised  in  the 
near  future.  To  this  period  belong  also  grammatical  studies 
such  as  the  Etudes  of  Viteau,  the  monographs  of  Deissmann, 
Burton,  Votaw,  etc.  Moreover,  much  work  has  been  done  on 
the  Septuagint,  the  early  Christian  literature,  the  papyri  and 
inscriptions,  all  of  which  bear  on  New  Testament  Philology. 

This,  then,  is  the  period  of  contact  as  opposed  to  the  contrast 
of  the  preceding,  the  period  in  which  the  long-established  isolation 
of  New  Testament  Greek  has  been  entirely  broken  down.  The 
comparative  and  historic  method  has  come  into  full  force  in 
Philology  as  in  Theology.  In  these  past  fifteen  years  Philology 
has  for  the  first  time  gained  her  rightful  place.  Heretofore 
theologians  had  the  privileged  position  of  remaining  a  generation 
behind  the  rest  of  the  world  in  matters  of  philology.  Now 
Theology  and  Philology  have  formed  an  alliance :  no  one  may  any 
longer  hope  to  become  a  New  Testament  theologian  without 
having  first  qualified  as  a  philologist,  else  he  must,  to  use  Deiss- 
mann's expressive  phrase,  "put  on  the  laid-off  clothes  of  the 
philologist,"  and  allow  his  vision  to  be  limited  and  his  words  to 
fall  without  authority.  It  may  be  predicted  that  the  New  Testa- 
ment will  in  the  future  receive  more  thorough  appreciation  from 
Philology  than  from  scholastic  Theology. 

A  word  in  conclusion  on  the  outlook  for  New  Testament 
Philology  and  its  future  tasks. 

It  is  evident  that  the  comparative  method  must  be  increasingly 
extended  to  New  Testament  study,  and  that  New  Testament 
Philology  must  be  recognized  as  only  a  branch  of  comparati\'e 


92  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

and  historic  Indo-European  Philology.  The  New  Testament 
student  should  be  interested  in  the  results  of  this  Philology,  e.g.,. 
in  the  evolution  of  tense,  Aktionsart,  mood,  voice,  etc.  One 
may  go  far  afield  here,  but  must  not  neglect  the  work  that  is 
nearer  at  home — the  drawing  upon  the  vast  materials  of  the  com- 
mon dialect,  and  the  interpretation  of  the  New  Testament  in  the 
light  of  Hellenistic  remains.  With  a  view  to  this  must  be  under- 
taken the  construction  and  interpretation  of  the  unedited  and 
undeciphered  texts  both  with  and  for  the  New  Testament.  All 
that  is  of  interest  and  importance  has  not  yet  been  given  us.  Nor 
can  we  say  that  the  age  of  startling  discoveries  is  at  an  end.  We 
know  not  at  what  moment  one  of  the  excavating  schools  may 
surprise  us  with  pertinent  inscriptions.  And  who  will  venture  to 
say  that  Egypt  has  surrendered  us  all  its  potsherds  and  papyri  ? 

Our  early  New  Testament  manuscripts  are  to  be  purified  in  the 
light  of  the  contemporary  dialect  before  we  can  regard  them  as 
giving  us  the  vernacular  autographs.  Established  criteria  of 
these  dialectic  peculiarities  may  be  applied  —  we  know  not  yet 
with  what  profit  —  as  one  means  of  solving  the  critical  questions 
of  manuscript  provenance;  and  conversely,  the  New  Testament 
uncial  manuscripts  may  be  used  with  fair  promise  by  the  investi- 
gator of  the  common  dialect. 

Innumerable  points  of  New  Testament  grammar  still  call  for 
detailed  investigation,  —  several  are  mentioned  by  Moulton  in 
the  Prolegomena,  —  and,  as  the  whole  domain  of  the  Koivrj  is 
subjected  to  systematic  examination,  New  Testament  grammar 
will  profit  by  the  results. 

Philology  has  already,  in  works  like  Milligan's  Thessalonians, 
Lietzmann's  Romans  and  First  Corinthians,  Gressmann  and 
Klostermann's  Mark,  and  Allen's  Matthew,  begun  to  take  definite 
hold  of  exegetical  commentary  work  interpreting  the  New  Testa- 
ment in  its  Hellenistic  environment.  All  New  Testament  books 
have  not  yet  received  such  treatment,  neither  would  the  authors 
of  commentaries  above  mentioned  profess  to  have  exhausted  their 
material. 

Scholars  have  begun  to  realize  that  a  knowledge  of  modern 
popular  Greek  is  valuable,  almost  essential,  for  the  study  of 
New  Testament  Philology,  and  that,  as  Pallis  has  in  a  slight 
way  shown,  it  may  aid  the  exegesis  of  the  text. 

It  is  of  importance  for  the  exegesis  of  the  future  to  realize  that 


NEW   TESTAMENT   PHILOLOGY  93 

all  the  New  Testament  writers  cannot  be  subjected  to  the  same 
rules,  that  differences  of  style  and  grammar  are  so  marked  that 
each  writer  must  be  taken  separately,  due  consideration  being 
given  to  his  idiosyncrasies.  Abbott  in  his  Johannitie  Grammar 
has  made  a  beginning  of  such  individual  studies. 

And,  lastly,  the  greatest  need  of  the  present  time  is  a  modern 
New  Testament  lexicon,  which  may  place  for  us  the  New  Tes- 
tament vocabulary  in  the  contemporary  surroundings  of  that 
period  of  world-culture  to  which  it  belongs,  and  acquaint  us  with 
the  usages  (especially  the  vernacular)  of  extant  Greek  from  the 
days  of  Alexander  the  Great  till  the  end  of  antiquity.  Thayer's 
Greek-English  Lexicon  —  the  best  we  now  possess  —  is  in  many 
respects  antiquated,  and  Preuschen's  Lexicon  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment and  Early  Christian  Literature,  the  parts  of  which  are  now 
appearing,  has  failed  to  grasp  the  present  situation  of  Philology. 
It  is  gratifying  to  know  that  we  shall  not  be  obliged  to  wait  in- 
definitely for  a  satisfactory  New  Testament  lexicon,  for  Deiss- 
mann,  who  has  done  so  much  to  remove  the  isolation  of  Biblical 
Greek,  and  has  defined  for  us  what  a  New  Testament  lexicon 
should  accomplish,  is  himself  engaged  on  the  preparation  of  such 
a  work. 


NEW  TESTAMENT   TEXTUAL   CRITICISM 

Professor  Matthew  Brown  Riddle,  D.D.,  LL.D. 
Western  Theological  Seminary,  Allegheny,  Pa. 

Seventy-five  years  ago  New  Testament  Textual  Criticism 
was  either  unknown  or  ignored  in  both  England  and  America. 
The  authority  of  the  so-called  Received  Text  (Stephen,  1550; 
Elzivir,  1633)  was  almost  supreme.  In  Germany,  however, 
Bengel  (1687-1752)  did  pioneer  work;  and  Griesbach  laid  solid 
foundations  for  a  scientific  treatment,  his  canons  still  holding 
good.  Lachmann  (1793-185 1),  who  published  his  first  small 
edition  in  183 1,  did  not  attempt  to  present  the  true  text,  but  only 
the  oldest  form  accessible;  but  his  labors  prepared  the  way  for 
the  restoration  of  a  critical  text.  As  far  as  Textual  Criticism  of 
the  New  Testament  is  concerned,  the  past  seventy-five  years  may 
be  conveniently  divided  by  two  prominent  events ;  namely,  the 
discovery  by  Tischendorf  of  the  Codex  Sinaiticus  in  1859,  and  the 
appearance  in  1881  of  the  text  of  Westcott  and  Hort,  coincident 
with  the  publication  of  the  Revised  Version  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment.    Three  periods  are  thus  presented  for  review. 

I.  From  1834-1859.  The  most  efficient  workers  during  this 
period  were  Tischendorf  (181 3-1874)  and  Tregelles  (1813-1875). 
The  former  was  the  greater  palaeographer;  the  latter,  the  more 
judicious  critic. 

Between  1841  and  1859  Tischendorf  published  seven  editions 
of  the  Greek  Testament,  but  only  the  fourth  (1849)  ^^^d  seventh 
(1859)  have  value  for  purposes  of  Textual  Criticism.  Each  of 
these  contained  a  full  critical  apparatus.  In  the  former  the 
trend  was  decidedly  away  from  the  "Received"  Text.  But  the 
seventh  edition,  which  was  much  larger,  differs  from  the  fourth 
in  1290  places,  thus  showing  a  reaction,  especially  in  the  Gospels. 
This  was  due,  not  to  any  change  in  critical  principles,  but  to  the 
apparent  insufficiency  of  evidence  in  support  of  the  readings  now 

94 


NEW   TESTAMENT   TEXTUAL   CRITICISM      95 

generally  accepted  as  the  more  ancient.  The  Codex  Sinaiticus 
had  not  yet  been  discovered,  and  the  readings  of  the  Codex 
Vaticanus  were  in  uncertainty,  since  it  was  practically  inaccessible. 

Meanwhile,  in  England  Tregelles  was  actively  engaged  in  in- ' 
vestigation  of  the  text.  The  story  of  his  labors  is  a  pathetic  one. 
Affiliated  with  a  minor  English  sect  (Plymouth  Brethren),  he  had 
little  assistance  in  his  efforts,  and  his  arduous  toil  finally  left 
him  "  old,  poor,  and  bhnd."  He  did  much  to  show  the  uncritical 
character  of  the  early  printed  editions  (Erasmus,  Stephen,  and 
Beza),  and  in  1844  published  an  edition  of  the  Apocalypse  in 
Greek.  In  1848  he  issued  a  prospectus  for  an  edition  of  the 
entire  Greek  Testament.  Lack  of  means  compelled  its  publi- 
cation by  subscription  and  in  parts  (from  1857  to  1872).  Though 
the  first  part  of  the  Gospels  was  issued  before  the  discovery  of 
Aleph,  the  readings  he  accepted  are  very  frequently  found  in  that 
manuscript.  His  grouping  of  the  authorities  is  discriminating, 
and  his  judgment  of  the  highest  order. 

The  revival  of  New  Testament  scholarship  in  England  led  the 
prominent  expositors  to  a  more  careful  study  of  the  Greek  text. 
Alford,  Ellicott,  and  others,  by  their  citation  of  authorities,  pro- 
duced a  movement  in  favor  of  the  more  ancient  readings. 
Scrivener  was  the  chief  supporter  of  the  "Received"  Text,  but 
by  publishing  successive  editions  of  the  Greek  Testament  in 
which  the  readings  accepted  by  critical  editors  appeared  in  foot- 
notes, he  did  much  to  awaken  inquiry. 

II.  From  1859  to  1881.  The  most  important  single  event  in 
the  history  of  modern  Textual  Criticism  is  the  discovery  by 
Tischendorf  of  the  Codex  Sinaiticus,  now  designated  by  the 
Hebrew  letter  Aleph.  In  1844  he  had  recovered  from  a  waste- 
basket  in  the  monastery  of  St.  Catherine  at  Mt.  Sinai  43  leaves 
containing  parts  of  the  Old  Testament,  which  he  published.  In 
1853  he  made  another  and  fruitless  visit  to  the  same  place.  In 
1859  a  third  visit  seemed  equally  fruitless,  when,  on  the  eve  of 
his  departure,  the  entire  Codex  was  shown  him.  This  he  ob- 
tained by  purchase  from  the  monks  (at  Cairo).  The  discovery 
took  place  February  4,  1859,  and  on  the  28th  of  the  following 
December  the  entire  manuscript  was  in  his  possession.  (The 
stories  of  theft  in  connection  with  his  obtaining  the  manu- 
scripts are  groundless.)  He  at  once  began  the  publication 
of  an  edition,  the  most  elaborate  one  up  to  that  time.     This 


96  RECENT  CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

appeared  in  1862,  and  in  the  fall  of  that  year  the  manuscript, 
according  to  agreement,  was  given  to  the  Emperor  of  Russia^ 
and  is  now  in  the  Imperial  Library  at  St.  Petersburg. 

Undoubtedly  of  nearly  the  same  age  as  the  Vatican  manu- 
script, the  oldest  manuscript  authority,  the  Sinaitic,  contains  the 
text  of  the  entire  New  Testament,  while  B  is  defective,  lacking 
one  third  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  the  Pastoral  Epistles,  and 
the  Apocalypse.  The  state  of  Textual  Criticism  in  1859  made  the 
value  of  the  document  for  critical  purposes  exceptionally  great. 
Interest  was  quickened  everywhere.  The  editors  of  critical  texts 
began  at  once  to  use  the  new  evidence.  Tregelles  presented  the 
readings  of  Aleph  in  the  parts  of  his  edition  that  afterwards  ap- 
peared. Alford  cited  the  readings  in  his  revised  commentary. 
Westcott  and  Hort,  who  were  already  preparing  to  issue  a  Greek 
New  Testament,  had  the  opportunity  of  using  Aleph  in  their 
long  joint  labors.  But  Tischendorf  felt  compelled  to  prepare 
an  entirely  new  critical  edition,  the  eighth,  according  to  his 
reckoning.  In  this  the  text  differs  from  that  of  the  seventh  in 
3369  places,  thus  showing  the  great  influence  of  Aleph  upon  his 
judgment.  The  Gospels  appeared  in  1864,  and  the  second 
volume  in  1872.  Even  the  more  conservative  critics  were  com- 
pelled to  recognize  the  value  of  the  new  evidence.  A  very 
important  effect  of  the  discovery  was  the  publication  of  the 
text  of  B  (Vaticanus).  A  splendid  edition  appeared  in  1868. 
(The  photographic  facsimile  appeared  in  1889.) 

As  the  readings  of  Aleph  are  in  general  agreement  with  B,  the 
fourth  century  manuscript  evidence  is  doubled  in  weight.  Yet  the 
differences  between  the  two  codices  are  rightly  held  to  indicate  a 
text  of  a  much  earlier  date,  probably  in  the  second  century.  This 
is  earlier  than  the  various  revisions  (recensions)  which  have  been 
assumed  to  account  for  early  variations.  Moreover,  there  were 
many  readings  in  regard  to  which  Aleph  turned  the  scale,  the 
evidence  prior  to  1859  seeming  to  be  evenly  balanced.  In  a  few 
years  there  was  virtually  an  agreement  among  critical  editors, 
except  a  few  ultra-conservatives.  The  consensus  was  that  the 
so-called  Received  Text  is  far  inferior  to  that  of  Aleph  and 
B,  that  when  these  witnesses  agree,  they  present  the  true  read- 
ing, except  where  there  are  internal  grounds  to  the  contrary; 
that  when  their  testimony  is  corroborated  by  fairly  good  later 
witnesses,  the  reading  is  established.     This  attitude  was  doubt- 


NEW  TESTAMENT   TEXTUAL   CRITICISM      97 

less  one  of  the  principal  causes  that  led  to  the  Revision  of  the 
Authorized  Version.  Begun  in  1871,  the  New  Testament  portion 
was  published  in  1881.  In  America  the  publication  of  Dr. 
Schaflf's  edition  of  Lange's  Commentary,  which  contained  full 
notes  on  the  various  readings,  led  to  a  wider  knowledge  of  the 
claims  of  Textual  Criticism.  In  188 1,  almost  simultaneously  with 
the  appearance  of  the  Revised  New  Testament,  the  critical  edition 
of  Westcott  (figoi)  and  Hort  (11892),  upon  which  twenty-eight 
years  of  labor  had  been  spent,  was  given  to  the  public.  These 
two  events  mark  a  definite  stage  in  the  acceptance  of  the  results 
of  Textual  Criticism.  The  impression  prevailed  that  the  text 
of  Westcott  and  Hort  was  that  of  the  Revisers,  but  this  was  not 
specifically  true.  The  Revisers  made  no  critical  text.  They 
formed  an  independent  judgment  on  readings  that  would  afifect 
the  English  dress,  but  did  not  follow  Westcott  and  Hort.  Indeed, 
the  work  on  the  Gospels  was  well  in  hand  before  these  editors 
printed,  for  private  use,  their  text  of  the  Gospels.  The  present 
writer  had  in  his  hands,  to  collate  for  the  information  of  the 
American  New  Testament  Company,  the  only  copy  in  this  coun- 
try. This  collation  showed  that  the  Revisers  agreed  with  Tre- 
gelles  oftener  than  with  Westcott  and  Hort.  But  the  impres- 
sion that  this  edition  presented  the  Revisers'  text  probably  did 
much  to  give  it  authority.  It  soon  became  in  many  theological 
institutions  the  standard  edition,  and  the  publication  of  a 
smaller  students'  edition  greatly  furthered  the  use  of  it. 

III.  Since  188 1  little  new  material  for  purposes  of  Textual 
Criticism  has  been  collected.  The  main  feature  of  this  period  has 
been  the  discussion  of  the  theories  of  Westcott  and  Hort.  The 
ready  acceptance  of  their  edition  was  not  without  its  disad\  an- 
tages.  The  absence  of  any  critical  apparatus  in  connection  with 
the  text  prevented  the  forming  of  an  independent  judgment  as  to 
the  readings.  The  more  important  passages,  it  is  true,  were  fully 
discussed  in  the  Appendix,  which  appeared  in  a  second  volume. 
But  these  discussions  were  not  only  highly  technical,  but  assumed 
the  correctness  of  the  critical  theories  of  the  editors.  These 
theories,  while  elaborately  presented  in  the  second  volume,  were 
stated  in  language  too  technical  for  the  average  reader.  Indeed, 
Gregory,  who  supports  Westcott  and  Hort,  intimates  that  some 
of  the  explanations  are  not  only  obscure,  but  fail  to  present  cor- 
rectly Hort's  real  views.     Thus  embarrassed,  the  students,  and 


98  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

often  the  professor,  failed  to  investigate.  The  authority  of  the 
editors  took  the  place  of  the  manuscript  authorities.  It  may 
be  added  that  the  grouping  of  the  readings  upheld  by  Westcott 
and  Hort  involves  a  sifting  of  manuscript  evidence  that  the  ordi- 
nary student  cannot  apply  for  himself,  even  if  he  understands 
the  theories  of  the  editors. 

Moreover,  subsequent  discussions  have  cast  much  doubt  upon 
the  correctness  of  these  theories.  The  main  contention  is :  that 
there  are  four  classes  of  readings,  which  they  name  Neutral, 
Alexandrian,  Western,  and  Syrian  that  no  one  manuscript 
presents  exclusively  the  readings  of  each  class,  though  B  has  the 
largest  Neutral  element;  that  the  Syrian  class  is  latest  and 
decidedly  inferior.  The  last  point  is  now  conceded  almost 
universally,  and  disposes  of  the  accuracy  of  the  Received  Text, 
which  is  distinctively  Syrian.  But  "Western"  is  now  generally 
regarded  as  a  misnomer,  while  the  existence  of  a  "Neutral" 
Text  is  very  doubtful.  It  is  probably  a  somewhat  purer  form  of 
the  Alexandrian  text.  In  consequence  of  the  views  stated  above, 
Westcott  and  Hort  give  to  B  paramount  authority,  since  they  use 
it  as  a  witness  for  all  the  groups  they  call  pre-Syrian  (Neutral, 
Alexandrian,  Western).  The  effect  of  this  reliance  upon  a  single 
manuscript  appears  in  those  parts  of  their  edition  where  this 
authority  fails  them.  In  nearly  a  score  of  instances  (in  these 
parts)  they  accept  an  "original  corruption,"  implying  that  the 
true  reading  has  been  lost.  As  they  depend  too  much  upon  B, 
Tischendorf  quite  naturally  gives  too  great  value  to  the  readings 
of  Aleph.  (It  may  be  noted  in  passing  that  the  latter  editor  is 
too  much  disposed  to  accept  "peculiar"  readings  in  the  Gospels, 
even  when  slightly  supported.) 

Weiss  has  accepted  to  a  great  extent  the  positions  and  results 
of  Westcott  and  Hort.  Gregory,  while  claiming  to  support  their 
views,  has  adopted  a  new  set  of  terms  for  the  assumed  forms  of 
the  text  in  the  earlier  centuries.  The  Stuttgart  Greek  Testament, 
edited  by  Nestle,  presents  a  compromise  (or  resultant)  text. 
The  method  adopted,  that  of  accepting  the  reading  preferred  by 
a  majority  of  selected  editors,  is  not  scientific,  but  the  result  is  an 
excellent  text.  The  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  has  chosen 
this  as  their  standard,  which  will  give  it  very  wide  circulation. 
Baljohn  (Holland)  has  published  a  Greek  Testament  with  a  very 
full  and  accurate  critical  apparatus.     The  readings  adopted 


NEW  TESTAMENT   TEXTUAL   CRITICISM      99 

recognize  the  too  great  reliance  of  Tischendorf  and  of  Westcott 
and  Hort  upon  Aleph  and  B  respectively. 

The  recently  discovered  Freer  manuscript  has  critical  interest, 
because  it  contains  a  hitherto  unknown  portion  of  the  conclusion 
of  the  Gospel  according  to  Mark.  This  fact  serves  to  increase 
the  evidence  against  the  genuineness  of  that  conclusion. 

It  has  been  impossible  to  refer  to  the  mass  of  secondary 
witnesses,  the  ancient  versions  and  patristic  citations.  But  the 
labor  spent  upon  these  has  been  extensive  and  useful. 

To  sum  up  the  results :  the  uncritical  character  of  the  Received 
Text  has  been  abundantly  proved;  the  superior  value  of  Akph 
and  B  is  well-nigh  universally  recognized;  a  few  readings  are 
still  open  to  discussion,  but  the  more  important  ones  are 
practically  determined. 

The  chief  problems  that  remain  are :  the  origin  and  character 
of  the  Bezan  manuscript  designated  D,  the  history  of  the  so-called 
"Western"  Text,  and  the  relation  of  the  early  Syriac,  discovered 
by  Mrs.  Lewis  at  Mt.  Sinai,  to  the  Peshitto  as  it  now  appears. 

The  indefatigable  labors  of  the  great  critical  editors  have  been 
abundantly  rewarded.  Only  a  false  conservatism  can  prevent 
the  churches  from  accepting  the  results. 


NEW   TESTAMENT  EXEGESIS 

Professor  Melancthon  Williams  Jacobus,  D.D. 
Hartford  Theological  Seminary 

In  a  certain  sense  the  Reformation  was  based  upon  Exegesis. 
Its  protest  was  against  the  conception  which  made  the  Church 
the  interpreter  of  Scripture,  as  well  as  against  the  corruption 
which  made  it  the  perverter  of  morals.  In  place  of  this  claim  of 
the  Church  to  impose  the  meaning  of  Scripture  upon  the  indi- 
vidual, it  asserted  the  right  of  the  individual  to  decide  the  mean- 
ing of  Scripture  for  himself.  It  was  not  the  Church  which  should 
decide  what  Scripture  should  teach,  but  Scripture  which  was  to 
determine  what  should  be  taught  in  the  Church.  Scripture  was 
held  to  be  its  own  interpreter;  so  that  the  determination  of  its 
meaning  rested  upon  the  individual  under  the  guidance  of  the 
illumining  power  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 

This  idea  tended  naturally  to  two  very  opposite  developments 
—  one  which  should  put  the  authority  of  Scripture  in  place  of  the 
authority  of  the  Church;  the  other  which  should  put  the  author- 
ity of  reason  in  place  of  the  authority  of  Scripture.  Both  of 
these  developments  issued,  with  the  result,  first  of  all,  that  the 
scholarly  interpretation  of  Scripture,  which  had  made  the  Bible 
of  the  Reformers  a  well-spring  of  truth  and  morals,  degenerated 
into  a  scholastic  and  coldly  formal  process  which  turned  it 
into  an  armory  of  controversial  proof-texts,  whose  only  object 
was  the  service  of  party  creed ;  and,  with  the  further  result,  that 
in  protest  against  this  fossilizing  of  the  intellect,  reason  was 
constituted  the  test  of  revelation  and  the  judge  of  the  meaning 
of  Scripture  —  a  protest  which  was  definitely  formulated  and 
reached  its  full  power  in  the  Rationalistic  philosophy  of  the  latter 
half  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

The  power  of  this  Rationalism  was  broken  by  Kant,  whose 
philosophy  left  reason  impotent  to  be  judge  of  Scripture,  and 
set  interpretation  practically  adrift  without  direction  or  control. 


NEW  TESTAMENT   EXEGESIS  loi 

Into  this  confusion  Schleiermacher  and  his  followers  came 
with  a  philosophy  of  feeling  that  for  the  time  turned  interpretation 
into  a  practical  service  of  the  religious  life,  though  it  was  not 
able  fully  to  stem  the  rationalistic  tide.  This  tide  rose  to  new 
power  in  the  philosophy  of  Hegel,  who  reaffirmed  the  claim  that 
Scripture  was  to  be  judged  by  reason,  and  whose  rationalism 
formed  the  basis  of  such  interpretation  as  was  produced  by  the 
Tubingen  School  (183 1). 

This  was  the  situation  when  Hartford  Seminary  was  founded. 
Especially  were  these  the  conditions  in  respect  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, in  which  field  the  work  of  the  Tubingen  School  was  carried 
on.  Its  writings  were  studied  from  a  purely  naturalistic  point 
of  view ;  and  while  investigation  of  their  origins  rather  than  in- 
terpretation of  their  contents  was  the  task  to  which  these  schol- 
ars devoted  themselves,  this  task  was  accomplished  with  those 
negative  results  which  always  follow  a  naturalistic  spirit  of 
work. 

At  the  same  time,  the  method  followed  by  this  School  con- 
tributed to  interpretation  a  positive  principle  which  has  never 
since  wholly  lost  its  influence.  In  the  preceding  century  Semler 
(1725-91)  —  followed  later  by  Eichhorn  (t  1827)  and  Ecker- 
mann  (f  1836)  —  claimed  that  not  only  were  the  Apostles  and 
Evangelists  under  the  influence  of  the  Judaism  of  their  time,  but 
that  the  New  Testament  writings  could  never  be  rightly  inter- 
preted save  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  surroundings  in  which 
they  were  written.  As  a  consequence,  the  philosophy  of  Hegel, 
being  distinctively  a  philosophy  of  history,  this  theory  of  Semler's 
came  into  a  new  prominence,  and  formed  the  characteristic  fea- 
ture of  such  expository  work  as  they  produced.  That  this  idea 
of  historical  interpretation  was  real  and  lasting  is  evident  from 
the  fact  that  it  survived  the  blow  given  by  Ritschl  to  that  con- 
ception of  the  history  of  the  Apostolic  times  which  was  the 
basis  on  which  the  Tubingen  interpretation  was  founded  —  a 
blow  that  destroyed  once  and  for  all  the  influence  of  that  School 
in  the  critical  world. 

The  new  movement  instituted  by  Ritschl  has  been  as  determi- 
native in  its  influence  as  that  of  Baur.  In  fact,  it  has  not 
simply  given  the  color  to  interpretation  since  its  day,  but  has 
created  the  spirit  with  which  interpretation  has  been  carried  on, 
and  has  constituted  it  the  kind  of  interpretation  that  it  is.     As 


I02  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

in  the  case  of  the  Tubingen  scholars,  however,  Ritschl  did  not 
conceive  a  new  idea  of  interpretation,  he  simply  reaffirmed  an  old 
one.  The  Tubingen  exegetes  formulated  with  a  new  definite- 
ness  Semler's  claim  that  there  could  not  be  any  right  interpreta- 
tion of  the  Biblical  writings  save  on  the  historical  basis  of  the 
surroundings  in  which  they  were  written.  Ritschl  maintained 
this  claim,  but  added  to  it  the  one  that  characterized  Schleier- 
macher's  position  —  that  Scripture  constitutes  a  spiritual  mes- 
sage to  the  soul. 

Naturally  this  claim  of  Schleiermacher  had  in  a  distinctive 
way  already  controlled  the  work  of  the  Evangelical  scholars 
who  followed  in  his  path.^  In  fact,  they  developed  this  idea  of 
the  spiritual  character  of  Scripture  to  evangelical  limits  which 
Schleiermacher  himself  would  not  have  accepted.  Particularly 
is  this  true  of  Tholuck,  who,  though  free  as  was  Schleiermacher 
from  any  mechanical  conception  of  inspiration,  wrote  not  only  in 
a  deeply  spiritual  tone,  but  with  a  profound  conviction  of  the 
divine  authority  of  Scripture. 

Schleiermacher's  idea  was  also  largely  present  with  another 
group  of  exegetes,  who  while  not  so  immediately  under  the  influ- 
ence of  his  spirit,  carried  out  his  method  of  the  organic  treatment 
of  Scripture.^ 


'  His  spiritual  idea  of  Scripture  profoundly  influenced  such  exegetes  as  01s« 
hausen  (f  1839;  A  Word  on  the  Deeper  Sense  of  Scripture,  trans.,  1824;  The 
Biblical  Exposition  of  Scripture,  1825;  Commentary  on  the  New  Testament, 
continued  by  Ebrard  and  Wiesinger,  trans.,  1847-49);  Neander  (f  1850; 
Life  of  Jesus,  trans.,  1848;  Commentary  on  I  John,  Philippians,  and  James, 
trans.,  1859);  Liicke  (f  1855;  Commentary  on  the  Writings  of  John,  trans., 
1837);  Riickert  (ti87i;  Commentary  on  Galatians,  1833;  Ephesians,  1834; 
Corinthians,  1836-37;  Romans,  1839);  and  Tholuck  (11877;  Commentary 
on  the  Gospel  of  John,  trans.,  1836;  Romans,  trans.,  1848;  Hebrews,  trans., 
1852;   Sermon  on  the  Mount,  trans.,  i860). 

^  The  better  representatives  of  this  group  are  Winer  (f  1858;  Exegetical 
Studies,  1827;  Commentary  on  Galatians,  1859);  Bleek  (f  1859;  Commentary 
on  Hebrews,  1828-40;  Lectures  on  the  Apocalypse,  1862;  Colossians,  Ephe- 
sians, Philemon,  1865;  Synoptical  Explanation  of  the  First  Three  Gospels, 
1862) ;  Meyer  (f  1873,  contributing  to  the  first  edition  of  his  Exegetical  Com- 
mentary on  the  New  Testament  [trans.,  1873  ff.]  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  John, 
Acts,  Romans,  Corinthians,  Galatians,  Ephesians,  Colossians,  Philippians,  and 
Philemon);  Beck  (f  1878;  Exposition  of  the  Epistles  to  Timothy,  1879; 
Apocalypse,  1883-84;  Romans,  1884;  Ephesians,  1891 ;  Peter,  1896);  Lange 
(t  1884;  contributing  to  his  Commentary  on  Holy  Scripture  [N.  T.  portion 
trans.,  1S61-65]  Matthew,  Mark,  John,  Romans,  James,  and  Apocalypse); 
Lechler  (f  1890;  Com^nentary  on  Acts,  in  Lange,  i860);  Ebrard  (t  1888; 
Commentary  on  Hebrews,  1850;  Apocalypse,  1853;  The  First  Three  Gospels, 
trans.,  1853;  Epistles  of  Johyi,  1859;  Gospel  of  John,  i860);  Beyschlag 
(t  1900;    The  Parables  of  Jesus,    trans.,  1875;    Commentary  on  the  Apoca- 


NEW   TESTAMENT   EXEGESIS 


103 


In  the  meanwhile,  however,  the  Tubingen  School  had  pro- 
claimed its  insistence  upon  the  historical  basis  of  criticism.  It 
was  inevitable  that  this  emphasis,  made  as  it  was  from  a  purely 
naturalistic  point  of  view,  should  result  on  their  part  in  an 
ignoring  of  Schleiermacher's  spiritual  conception  of  Scripture, 
and  in  an  abandoning  of  it  on  the  part  of  their  opponents,  for 
these  opponents  being  forced  to  meet  the  Tubingen  scholars  on 
their  own  ground  of  historical  method,  while  maintaining  a 
supernaturalism  over  against  their  naturalism,  found  themselves 
driven  from  the  warm  spiritual  emphases  with  which  Evangelical 
interpretation  had  grown  familiar  to  a  colder  handling  of  Scrip- 
ture in  which  the  historical  element  was  the  dominant  feature. 

It  is  not  unlikely,  therefore,  that  this  in  a  measure  accounts 
for  the  failure  of  the  Evangelical  group  of  Schleiermacher's 
followers  (Tholuck,  Neander,  etc.)  to  continue  the  distinctive 
influence  of  their  spirit  in  the  other  group  which  immediately 
followed  them  (Meyer,  Lange,  Weiss,  etc.).  Indeed  it  accounts 
in  large  measure  for  the  fact  that  there  were  two  groups  instead  of 
one,  and  enables  us  to  understand  how  the  most  vigorous  oppo- 
sition to  Tiibingenism  expressed  itself  in  a  group  of  scholars 
whose  position  was  one  of  strict  conservatism,  rather  than  of 
informing  spirituality.  The  one  refuge  of  supernaturalism, 
when  the  spiritual  element  is  withdrawn,  is  confessionalism. 
Consequently,  as  the  spiritual  emphasis  of  Schleiermacher  and 
his  closer  followers  came  to  be  given  up,  the  supernaturalism 
with  which  the  naturalism  of  Tubingen  was  met  became  more 
traditional  in  its  presentation.^ 

lypse,  trans.,  1876;  James,  in  Meyer,  1897);  B.  Weiss  {Commentary  on  Philip- 
pians,  1859;  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  John,  Romans,  Hebrews,  and  Epistles  of 
John,  in  Meyer,  1893-1901;  The  New  Testament  Text  Critically  Investigated, 
with  Exegetical  Notes,  1894-1900) ;  and  Heinrici  {Commentary  on  Corinthians, 
1880-87;   ib.  in  Meyer,  1896-1900). 

'This  was  the  characteristic  spirit  of  the  school  of  Hengstenberg  (f  1869; 
Commentary  on  the  Apocalypse,  trans.,  1851;  Gospel  0/  John,  trans.,  1865); 
Stier  (t  1862;  Commentary  on  Epistles  0/  James,  Peter,  and  Jude,  1850;  He- 
brews, 1862;  Words  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  trans.,  1869;  Apostles,  trans.,  1869) ;  and 
Keil  (t  1888;  Commentary  on  Matthew,  1877;  Mark  and  Luke,  1879;  John, 
1881;  Peter  and  Jude,  1883;  Hebrews,  1885),  to  whom  may  be  considered  as 
belonging  more  or  less  closely,  according  to  their  degree  of  conservatism,  such 
exegetes  as  Philippi  (f  1882;  Commentary  on  Romans,  1878;  Galatians,  18S4); 
Franz  Delitzsch  (t  1890;  Commentary  on  Hebrews,  trans.,  1868-70);  Luthardt 
(ti902;  Commentary  on  John's  Gospel,  iSs2-S3;  Apocalypse,  1861;  also  in  the 
first  edition  of  Strack  and  Zockler  [1886-88]  John's  Gospel  and  Acts  [with  Zock- 
ler,  trans.,  1878-79]  and  personally  John's  Epistles  and  Romans) ;  Nosgen  {Com- 
mentary on  Acts,  1882;  Matthew,  Mark,  atui  Luke  [in  the  first  edition  of  Strack 


104  RECENT  CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

From  all  this  it  is  evident  that  the  position  of  Ritschl  was  a 
most  significant  one.  It  not  only  maintained  a  historical  basis 
for  Exegesis,  claimed  by  Tiibingenism  as  essential  to  all  Biblical 
interpretation,  but  it  brought  Exegesis  back  to  the  spiritual 
claims  of  Schleiermacher,  and  solved  the  problem  under  which 
interpretation  had  been  confusedly  laboring  since  that  scholar's 
day  by  contending  for  what  he  had  practically  carried  out  in 
his  work  —  the  separation  of  the  critical  and  religious  elements 
in  Biblical  study.  It  is  this  idea  which  may  safely  be  said  to 
have  controlled  interpretation  during  the  last  half-century.  Its 
influence  has  been  felt  conspicuously  in  two  ways.  It  natu- 
rally emphasized  that  denial  of  all  conception  of  mechanical 
inspiration  which  had  been  growing  during  the  previous  tw^enty- 
five  years;  and,  in  addition  to  this,  it  wrought  for  the  abandon- 
ment of  any  objective  authority  of  Scripture  and  the  acceptance 
of  a  conception  of  the  Church  as  a  spiritual  community  whose 
religious  consciousness  interprets  for  itself  the  contents  of 
Scripture.* 

On  the  Continent  outside  of  Germany  there  has  not  been  the 
development  in  the  spirit  and  method  of  New  Testament  inter- 

and  Zockler]) ;  and  Zockler  (f  1906  ;  editor  with  Strack  of  the  Concise  Commen- 
tary on  the  Holy  Writings  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  to  the  first  edition  of 
which  he  contributed  the  Pastoral  Epistles,  Hebrews,  and  Apocalypse  [with 
Riggenbach];  and  John's  Gospel  and  Acts  [with  Luthardt].  Occupying  a 
position  unaffiliated  with  either  of  the  above  lines  of  development,  though  strenu- 
ous in  his  hostility  to  Tiibingenism  was  Ewald  (f  1875;  Commentary  on  the 
Apocalypse,  1828;    Exposition  of  the  First  Three  Gospels,  1850). 

'  The  exegetes  who  have  most  prominently  given  expression  to  this  idea  are 
H.  J.  Holtzmann,  editor  of  the  Hand  Commentary  to  the  New  Testament  (1889- 
91),  to  the  first  edition  of  which  he  contributed  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  John's 
Gospel  and  Epistles,  The  Apocalypse  and  Acts;  Lipsius  (f  1892  ;  Commentary  on 
Romans,  Galalians,  and  Philippians,  in  the  first  edition  of  Holtzmann,  1889-91); 
Schmiedel  {Commentary  on  Corinthians  and  Thessalonians,  in  the  first  edition  of 
Holtzmann,  1890);  von  Soden  {Commentary  on  Ephesians,  Colossians,  Phile- 
mon, Pastorals,  Hebrews,  James,  Peter,  and  Jude,  in  the  first  edition  of  Holtz- 
mann, 1891);  Wendt  {Commentary  on  Acts,  in  the  last  edition  of  Meyer,  1899); 
Klihl  {Commentary  on  Peter  and  Jude,  in  the  last  edition  of  Meyer,  1897); 
Bornemann  {Commentary  on  Thessalonians,  in  the  last  edition  of  Meyer,  1894); 
Bousset  {Commentary  on  the  Apocalypse,  in  the  last  edition  of  Meyer,  1S96); 
B.  Haupt  {Commentary  on  the  First  Epistle  of  John,  trans.,  1879;  the  Captivity 
Epistles  of  Paul,  in  the  last  edition  of  Meyer,  1897) ;  Klopper  {Commentary  on 
II  Corinthians,  1869,  1874;  Colossians,  1882;  II  Thessalonians,  1889;  Ephe- 
sians, 1891 ;  Philippians,  1893) ;  B.  Weiss  {Commentary  on  the  Pastoral  Epis- 
Mes  (1902);  also  with  J.  Weiss,  Mark  and  Luke,  in  the  last  edition  of  Meyer, 
1892).  More  conservative  in  his  critical  viewpoint,  but  with  the  same  conception 
of  the  separation  of  the  critical  and  the  spiritual  elements  in  Exegesis,  stands 
the  scholar  Zahn,  editor  of  the  newly  begun  Commentary  to  the  New  Testament, 
(1903  ff.),  to  which  thus  far  he  has  contributed  the  interpretation  of  Matthew, 
the  Gospel  of  John,  and  Galatians. 


NEW   TESTAMENT   EXEGESIS  105 

pretation  which  has  taken  place  in  Germany.  In  France  and 
in  Holland  the  only  considerable  work  which  has  been  accom- 
plished has  been  along  the  older  conservative  lines  —  Godet  in 
France  (t  1900;  Commentary  on  Luke,  trans.,  1875;  John,  trans., 
1879-80;  Romans,  trans.,  1880;  /  Corinthians,  trans.,  1886)  and 
van  Oosterzee  in  Holland  (f  1882 ;  Commentary  on  Luke,  trans., 
1863;  Pastorals,  and,  with  Lange  in  the  latter's  large  work, 
James,  1858-62)  In  Great  Britain  and  America  the  influence  of 
Ritschl  has  only  in  the  later  years  come  in  any  way  to  be  marked. 
It  is  the  conservative  tendencies  which  are  represented  by  most 
scholars.^ 

A  freer  attitude  is  seen  in  Stanley  (f  1881;  Commentary  on 
Corinthians,  1862)  and  Jowett  (t  1893;  Commentary  on  Gala- 
tians,  Romans,  and  Thessalonians,  1859).  In  the  recent  works, 
however,  the  newer  method  is  more  in  evidence.  Such  are 
the  Expositor's  Greek  Testament  (1897  ^0  —  ^  reworking 
of  Alford's  earlier  work  —  edited  by  W.  Robertson  Nicoll,  to 
which  so  far  Bruce  (f  1899)  has  contributed  the  Synoptic 
Gospels;  Dods  (f  1909),  John's  Gospel;  Knowling,  Acts; 
Denney,  Romans;  Findlay,  /  Corinthians ;  Bernard,  II  Corin- 
thians; Kendall,  Galatians;  Salmond  (f  1906),  Ephesians; 
Kennedy,  Philippians;  and  Peake,  Colossiatis;  also  such  indi- 
vidual commentaries  as  The  Gospel  of  Mark  (1898),  by  Swete; 
The  Earliest  Gospel  (1901),  by  Menzies;  The  Epistle  of  James 
(1897)  and  The  Epistles  of  Jude  and  II  Peter  (1907),  by  Mayor; 
Ephesians  (1903),  by  Robinson;  and  Thessalonians  (1908),  by 
Milligan.  Notably  is  this  true  of  the  International  Critical 
Commentary,  edited  by  Briggs,  Driver,  and  Plummer  (1895  ff.), 
to  the  New  Testament  portion  of  which  have  already  been  con- 
tributed Matthew,  by  W.  C.  Allen;  Mark,  by  Gould  (f  1892); 
Luke,  by  Plummer ;  Romans,  by  Sanday ;  Philippians  and  Phile- 
mon, by  Vincent;   Ephesians  and  Colossians,  by  T.  K.  Abbott; 

■Such  are  Alford  (fiSyi;  The  Creek  New  Testament  with  Commentary, 
1849-61);  Ellicott  (tigos;  Commentary  on  Galatians,  1S54;  Ephesians, 
1855;  Pastorals,  i?>s6;  Philippians,  Colossians,  and  Philemon,  i?^i,-j\  Thessa- 
lonians, 1858;  /  Corinthians,  18S7);  J.  B.  Light/oot  (t  18S9;  Commentary  on 
Galatians,  186s;  Philippians,  1S68;  Colossians  and  Philemon,  1S75);  Wcstcott 
(tigoi;  Commentary  on  John's  Epistles,  18S3;  Hebrews,  1889;  John's  Gospel, 
1892;  Ephesians,  1906);  Eadie  (t  1876;  Commentary  on  Colossians,  1856; 
Philippians,  1859;  Ephesians,  1861;  Galatians,  1869;  Thessalonians,  1877); 
Plumptre  (ti89i;  Commentary  on  Acts,  1879;  Mark,  1879:  //  Corinthians, 
1883). 


io6  RECENT  CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

and  Peter  and  Jude,  by  Bigg  —  the  last  quite  conservative  in  its 
conclusions. 

On  the  whole,  the  exegetical  work  in  America  has  been  more 
pronounced  in  its  conservatism,  while  perhaps  not  so  marked  in 
its  scholarship.  Among  its  more  prominent  representatives  are 
J.  A.  Alexander  (f  i860;  Commentary  on  Acts,  1856;  Mark, 
1858;  Matthew,  i860);  C.  Hodge  (f  1878;  Commentary  on 
Romans,  1835;  Ephesians,  1856;  Corinthians,  1857-59); 
Cowles  (t  1881 ;  Notes  on  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  1867- 
81);  Broadus  (f  1895;  Commentary  on  Matthew,  1886).  At 
the  same  time,  it  has  shown  practical  tendencies  which  as  early 
as  the  beginning  of  this  period  placed  it  at  the  service  of  Sunday- 
school  work  in  such  popular  series  as  those  of  Barnes  (t  1870; 
Notes  on  the  New  Testament,  1832-52),  Jacobus  (f  1876;  Notes 
on  the  Gospels,  1848-56;  Acts,  1859),  and  later  (since  1875) 
in  such  distinctively  teachers'  books  as  Peloubet's  Notes  on 
the  Sunday-School  Lessons,  and  for  more  general  use  such  works 
as  the  Commentary  on  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  (1874-86), 
by  D.  D.  Whedon,  and  Bihle  Work  (1887  ff.),  by  J.  G.  Butler. 
Even  in  such  popular  efforts  the  influence  of  newer  and  more 
scholarly  methods  has  shown  itself,  as  is  evident  in  the  series 
The  Bible  for  Home  and  School,  now  in  course  of  publication 
under  the  editorship  of  Shailer  Mathews.  The  lead  of  America 
in  this  direction  was  followed  later  in  Great  Britain  by  such  series 
as  the  Handbooks  for  Bible  Classes  and  Private  Students  (1879- 
85),  edited  by  Marcus  Dods  (f  1909)  and  Alexander  White; 
The  Cambridge  Bible  for  Schools  and  Colleges  (1878-1901), 
edited  by  J.  J.  S.  Perowne;  and,  for  more  advanced  readers,  by 
the  same  editor,  The  Cambridge  Greek  Testament  for  Schools 
and  Colleges  (1881-91);  also  in  the  same  popular  line,  but 
for  a  more  general  circle,  The  Pulpit  Commentary  (1880  fif.), 
edited  by  Canon  Spence  and  J.  S.  Exell ;  the  Library  Commentary 
(1871),  by  Jameson,  Faussett,  and  Brown;  the  Commentary  for 
English  Readers  (1877-79),  ^7  Bishop  EUicott;  the  Biblical 
Museum  (i87i-8i),byj.  C.  Gray;  and  of  a  much  more  scholarly 
character,  The  Expositor's  Bible  (1888  ff.),  by  W.  Robertson 
Nicoll;  The  Speaker's  Commentary  (1871-82),  by  Canon  Cook; 
and  the  much  more  concise  but  critical  series  now  in  publica- 
tion, known  as  The  New  Century  Bible,  by  W.  F.  Adeney. 

From  this  review  it  is  obvious  that  the  two  great  principles 


NEW  TESTAMENT   EXEGESIS  107 

which  have  set  forward  Exegesis  during  these  last  seventy-five 
years  are  those  of  its  historical  basis  and  of  the  separation  of  its 
critical  and  religious  elements.  It  may  not  be  true  that  they  have 
equally  influenced  it,  since  the  latter  came  in  some  twenty-five 
years  after  the  former  was  in  power,  and  is  only  now  being  given 
general  recognition;  but,  so  long  as  their  combined  influence 
continues,  they  make  impossible  a  return  of  interpretation  to 
that  method  which  has  always  been  its  greatest  danger  and,  when 
in  control,  has  always  marked  its  death  —  the  method  of  alle- 
gory, which  supposes  that  the  plain  and  simple  statements  of 
the  Bible  have  behind  them  secret  meanings  which  constitute 
its  real  message  to  the  soul.  This  method  has  come  into  play 
not  only  when  vital  religion  has  degenerated  into  a  sickly 
mysticism,  but  also  when  it  has  hardened  into  a  formal  confes- 
sionalism,  whose  ecclesiastical  emphasis  on  the  letter  of  the  word 
seems  to  make  needful  for  life  a  hidden  sense  behind  it.  In 
either  condition  all  true  interpretation  ceases.  Naturally  such 
a  method  cannot  obtain  when  the  historical  background  of  Exe- 
gesis is  recognized,  and  when  its  critical  and  religious  factors  are 
separated  and  held  apart. 

That  these  two  principles  are  likely  to  continue  in  their 
influence  can  hardly  be  questioned  when  we  understand  that 
behind  them  is  the  scientific  spirit  of  our  day,  which  not  only  calls 
for  the  facts  which  historical  Exegesis  produces,  but  insists  upon 
the  presence  of  evolution  in  that  religious  life  which  historically 
has  found  its  expression  in  the  Bible  writings.  Allegory  stands 
small  chance  of  regaining  a  hold  on  interpretation  so  long  as 
Science  controls  the  spirit  in  which  it  is  carried  on. 

It  would  be  foolish,  however,  to  flatter  ourselves  that  no 
dangers  lie  along  the  way  of  modern  Exegesis.  In  fact,  the 
great  danger  in  Exegesis  to-day  comes  from  this  very  Science 
which  seems  so  to  control  it  for  good.  For  it  is  obvious  that  the 
historical  element  in  Exegesis  can  be  made  so  dominant,  and  the 
separation  between  the  religious  and  the  critical  elements  can 
be  made  so  vital,  that  the  Bible  will  come  to  be  treated  not  merely 
as  literature,  which  it  is  and  must  always  be  recognized  as  being, 
but  as  literature  whose  spiritual  message  is  nothing  more  than 
man's  religious  guess  at  the  humanly  unsolvable  problems  of  the 
soul.  Whether  this  danger  will  materialize  into  a  real  condition 
will  depend  upon  the  philosophy  which  furnishes  the  ultimate 


io8  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

conceptions  on  which  interpretation  rests.  If  it  admits  a  super- 
natural element  in  the  history  and  the  experience  of  the  race, 
the  insistence  on  the  historical  method  of  Exegesis  will  never  so 
separate  between  its  religious  and  its  critical  elements  as  to 
reduce  the  Bible's  message  to  a  word  which,  however  full  of  re- 
ligious fervor  it  may  be,  is  after  all  only  human  in  its  source  and 
in  its  guiding  power. 


HIGHER    CRITICISM     OF    THE    NEW 
TESTAMENT 

Professor  Melancthon  Williams  Jacobus,  D.D. 
Hartford  Theological  Seminary 

When  the  founders  of  Hartford  Seminary  were  counseling  to- 
gether over  the  beginnings  of  this  School  of  their  faith  and  love, 
there  had  begun  in  Germany  a  movement  whose  effect  upon  the 
Criticism  of  the  New  Testament  was,  at  the  time,  well-nigh  revo- 
lutionary, and  whose  influence  upon  it  can  never  wholly  be  lost. 

The  Reformers  came  to  the  study  of  the  Bible  with  all  the 
warmth  and  freedom  of  their  great  conviction  of  a  personal  ap- 
proach to  God  in  the  concerns  of  the  soul.  This  Book  was  the 
well  from  which  without  hindrance  each  man  drew  for  himself 
the  water  of  life,  and  where  he  found  by  all  the  rights  of  private 
interpretation  the  will  of  God  for  his  salvation.  But  as  the 
polemics  of  their  position  developed,  the  principles  of  their  ap- 
peal to  Scripture  brought  them  face  to  face  with  the  danger  of 
emphasizing  its  authority  over  its  spiritual  service;  until,  in  the 
formalism  which  followed  the  vital  enthusiasm  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, the  Bible  degenerated  into  a  book  of  texts  for  proof,  and  the 
Rationalism  that  was  born  of  this  death  began  its  work  of  criti- 
cism, which  promised  a  destruction,  not  only  of  the  Bible's 
authority,  but  even  of  that  spiritual  power  which  is  supposed  by 
some  to  remain  when  authority  has  disappeared. 

The  reaction  of  the  mystic  Rationalism  of  Schlciermacher  and 
his  followers  had  practically  no  effect  in  stemming  the  tide.  A 
criticism  based  on  feeling  and  uncertain  of  its  historical  facts 
could  not  be  of  influence  against  a  criticism  which  challenged 
the  facts  and  ignored  the  feeling.  Criticism  continued  negative 
and  without  permanent  value  to  the  study  of  the  Bible. 

It  was  at  this  time  (1832)  that  Baur  published  in  the  Tiibinger 
Zeitschrift  his  article  on  the  parties  in  the  Corinthian  Church 
which  formulated  the  idea  —  first  suggested  by  Semler  more 

109 


no  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

than  half  a  century  before,  and  taken  up  by  Paulus  a  quarter  of 
a  century  after  him  —  that  the  Pauline  and  the  Petrine  lines 
of  thinking  in  the  Apostolic  Church  represented  an  essential 
opposition.  With  his  book  on  Die  sogennanten  Pastor albriefe 
(1835)  and  his  comprehensive  work  on  Der  Apostel  Paulus  (1845) 
there  was  finally  placed  in  full  before  the  scholarly  world  the 
theory  of  the  Tubingen  School  —  that  beneath  the  primary 
unity  of  the  Apostolic  Church  lay  inherent  hostilities  which 
finally  issued  in  a  disruption  that  was  healed  only  in  the  irenic 
stage  of  the  second  century. 

This  constituted  a  great  advance  upon  the  desultory  and  un- 
constructive  criticism  which  had  obtained  before  that  time.  In 
the  first  place,  instead  of  treating  the  difficulties  of  individual 
books  here  and  there  in  the  New  Testament,  it  bound  all  its 
writings  under  a  unity  of  critical  investigation  and,  further  and 
more  significantly,  it  suggested  an  explanation  for  the  difficulties 
of  which  Criticism  had  already  been  conscious,  as  well  as  for  the 
deeper  ones  which  were  now  brought  to  light,  in  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal situation  of  the  second  century.  It  is  not  surprising,  there- 
fore, that  its  theory  dominated  the  critical  thinking  of  the  day. 
The  facts  that  it  furnished  a  unity  of  critical  view  by  which  the 
New  Testament  could  be  studied  together  as  an  organism,  and 
then  supplied  the  historical  conditions  which  accounted  for  the 
differences  its  writings  showed  among  themselves,  satisfied  the 
scholarly  mind  as  nothing  in  the  previous  criticism  had  been 
able  to  do. 

But  the  Tubingen  criticism  was  founded  upon  the  Hegelian 
philosophy,  which  held  that  all  history  must  progress  in  a  de- 
velopment which  moves  from  a  primary  integrity  through  dis- 
integration to  a  final  unity.  With  the  passing  of  this  philoso- 
phy, the  contention  of  Ritschl  in  the  second  edition  of  his 
AUkatholische  Kirche  (1857),  that  the  Apostolic  history  dis- 
closed no  such  deep-seated  hostility  as  Baur  had  claimed,  pro- 
duced an  effect  upon  critical  thinking  which  all  the  protests 
aroused  by  Tubingenism  had  failed  to  do;  and  with  this  revolt 
of  one  who  himself  had  been  an  adherent  of  this  school  its  power 
was  broken,  never  to  be  regained. 

For  the  fifty  years  since  this  date  the  progress  of  New  Testa- 
ment Criticism  has  been,  generally  speaking,  in  the  direction  of 
reconnecting  the  New  Testament  writings  with  the  life  and 


HIGHER   CRITICISM    OF   NEW  TESTAMENT 


III 


thought  of  the  Early  Church.  This  will  be  seen,  if  we  give  a 
brief  review  of  the  different  fields  in  which  this  Criticism  finds  its 
activity. 

I.  The  Historical  Books,  (i)  The  Synoptic  Gospels.  — 
Before  Baur's  day  the  Synoptic  Problem  —  the  problem 
of  the  literary  interrelations  of  the  Gospels  —  had  been  given 
wide  and  careful  consideration,  and  the  main  theories  which 
make  up  the  history  of  this  problem  had  already  been  formu- 
lated. With  Baur,  however,  this  problem  receded  necessarily 
into  the  background. 

According  to  his  view,  the  Gospels  were  writings  so  individual- 
ized by  tendencies  related  to  the  ecclesiastical  conditions  in  which 
they  were  written  that  the  question  of  original  sources  and  the 
interdependence  of  the  writers  in  their  use  of  them  was  lost  sight 
of.  As  such  individual  writings,  they  represented  the  com- 
promising tendencies  of  the  second-century  Church,  and  con- 
sequently fell  wholly  out  of  all  first-hand  relation  to  the  Gospel 
history  which  they  professed  to  record. 

With  the  recovery  of  the  Gospels  to  the  first  century  the  ques- 
tion of  the  primary  character  of  their  relation  to  these  sources 
came  again  to  the  front.  This  question  has  received  most  care- 
ful and  patient  investigation,  with  the  result  that  the  scholar- 
ship of  both  continents  is  practically  united  in  assigning  to  the 
Synoptic  record  two  primary  sources  —  a  teaching  source 
(designated  as  Q),  represented  by  the  discourses  of  Jesus  so 
conspicuously  present  in  Matthew  and  Luke,  and  a  narrative 
source  which  is  essentially  our  present  Gospel  of  Mark  and 
forms  the  narrative  framework  of  both  Matthew  and  Luke.  In 
other  words,  of  the  three  Synoptic  Gospels  Mark  is  primary, 
and  has  been  used  by  Matthew  and  Luke  as  the  main  source  of 
their  narratives.  In  addition  to  Mark,  both  Matthew  and  Luke 
have  used  the  source  Q,  made  up  mainly  of  the  teachings  of 
Jesus,  together  with  other  sources,  oral  or  written,  peculiar  to 
themselves.  There  is  still  open  to  discussion  the  question  of  the 
interaction  of  these  two  primary  factors  —  the  teaching  source 
and  the  narrative  source  —  in  the  transmission  of  the  Gospel 
tradition ;  but  the  main  fact  as  to  the  sources  themselves  and  the 
relation  to  them  of  our  first  three  Gospels  is  assured. 

(2)  The  Fourth  Gospel.  —  At  no  point  perhaps  did  the  Tu- 
bingen School  make  so  brilliant  a  showing  as  at  its  accounting 


112  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

for  the  origin  of  the  Fourth  Gospel.  The  differences  between 
this  Gospel  and  the  Synoptics  had  been  recognized  since  the 
end  of  the  eighteenth  century  as  difficult  of  solution.  To  sug- 
gest that  they  were  due  to  the  fact  that  the  Gospel  was  born  of 
the  controversies  which  the  reunited  Church  of  the  second  cen- 
tury waged  against  the  Gnosticism  and  the  Montanism  which 
threatened  its  life,  seemed  to  be  final  truth,  and  for  the  time 
practically  swept  the  critical  field.  But  the  reaction  from  this 
extreme  position  gradually  brought  the  Gospel  back  to  the  Apos- 
tolic age,  and  scholarship  began  to  devote  itself  to  debating 
the  question  of  the  historical  credibility  of  its  contents.  This 
question  centered  itself  naturally  at  the  discourses  of  Jesus. 
Can  the  Jesus  who  spoke  the  plain  parables  of  the  Synoptics 
have  delivered  also  the  involved  discourses  of  this  Gospel? 
The  answer  to  this  question  largely  determines  the  Apostolic 
authorship  of  the  Gospel ;  since,  if  the  discourses  can  be  under- 
stood as  in  substance  coming  from  Jesus,  the  Gospel  as  a  whole 
can  be  understood  as  coming  from  the  Apostle  John. 

Up  to  the  last  decade  the  progress  of  the  criticism  of  John,  in 
Germany  at  least,  had  been  toward  a  drawing  together  of  the 
extreme  radical  and  conservative  positions.  On  the  one  hand, 
more  allowance  was  given  to  the  historical  character  of  the  nar- 
rative; on  the  other  hand,  there  was  recognized  more  clearly 
the  presence  of  a  subjective  element  in  the  reproduction  of  the 
discourses,  and  a  common  critical  standing-ground  seemed  to 
be  in  sight  for  a  specific  discussion  of  the  Gospel's  authorship. 
But  since  the  nineties,  there  has  been  a  strong  movement  in  the 
direction  of  a  complete  rejection  of  the  historical  character  of 
the  Gospel,  together  with  an  utter  denial  of  its  Apostolic  origin. 
Signs  of  a  reaction  may  be  apparent  in  the  judicial  evidence  pre- 
sented by  such  a  book  as  Drummond's  The  Character  and 
Authorship  of  the  Fourth  Gospel  (1904),  which  maintains  the 
Apostolic  date  and  authorship  of  the  writing,  though  conceding 
much  to  the  unhistorical  character  of  its  narrative ;  but  that  the 
position  has  not  returned  to  that  of  twenty  years  ago  is  evident 
from  the  radical  claims  of  such  a  brilliantly  written  work  as 
Scott's  The  Fourth  Gospel  (1906),  which  claims  the  book  to  be  a 
wholly  symbolic  treatment  of  the  Gospel  history  by  an  unknown 
writer  of  the  second  century. 

(3)  The  Book  of  Acts.  —  The  Tubingen  School  claimed  that 


HIGHER   CRITICISM   OF   NEW  TESTAMENT     113 

Acts  is  historically  untrustworthy  —  that  it  is  the  product  of  the 
Catholic  Church  of  the  second  century,  written  with  the  irenic 
motive  of  so  presenting  Peter  and  Paul  in  their  ideas  and  in  their 
work  as  to  show  essential  harmony  between  them  —  a  harmony 
which,  according  to  their  view  of  the  Church's  history,  did  not 
actually  exist. 

With  the  disappearance  of  this  view,  however,  there  came  to 
new  significance  the  question  of  the  historical  value  to  be  as- 
signed to  the  Book,  which  necessarily  gave  new  interest  to  the 
specific  question  of  the  sources  which  its  writer  had  at  his 
command. 

This  latter  question  has  received  a  large  amount  of  critical 
attention  in  the  last  twenty  years.  In  fact,  it  has  been  over- 
worked into  a  multiplication  and  refinement  of  sources  which 
even  most  liberal  critics  have  been  compelled  to  admit  offer  no 
solution  to  the  question  of  the  historicity  of  the  record. 

In  this  last  year  there  has  appeared  from  the  pen  of  the  his- 
torical scholar  Hamack  what  is  likely  to  prove  the  first  step  to- 
wards a  general  reaction  from  this  hopeless  confusion  of  ideas. 
His  two  books,  Luke  the  Physician  and  The  Acts  of  the  ApostleSy 
have  subjected  the  Lukan  writings  to  a  thoroughgoing  critical 
investigation,  with  the  result  that  not  only  is  Luke  shown  to  be 
the  writer  of  the  canonical  books  ascribed  to  him,  but  the  much 
disputed  Acts  is  "  as  a  whole  a  genuinely  historical  work,"  and 
"even  in  the  majority  of  its  details  it  is  trustworthy."  As 
a  consequence,  the  outlook  for  the  usefulness  of  this  particu- 
lar New  Testament  writing  in  furnishing  a  historical  ground- 
work for  the  critical  study  of  the  Apostolic  literature  is  most 
promising. 

While  it  would  seem  from  the  foregoing  facts  that  the  progress 
of  Criticism  in  the  historical  writings  of  the  New  Testament  has 
been  in  the  direction  of  a  positive  recovery  of  their  credibility, 
we  must  not  ignore  certain  facts  which  confront  us  clearly  to- 
day. But  a  few  years  had  elapsed  after  Baur  launched  his 
attack  on  the  New  Testament  when  it  seemed  as  though  the  only 
outcome  of  his  theory  would  be  one  of  most  hopeless  negativism. 
Baur  had  said,  the  New  Testament  narrative  writings  are  based 
on  nothing  more  than  a  pure  naturalism  of  history.  The  super- 
natural and  the  miraculous  which  they  contain  are  wholly  arti- 
ficial.    The  logical  inference  from  this,  Strauss  said  (1835),  is 


114  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

that  there  is  no  history  at  all;  for  the  arguments  which  in  view 
of  this  literature  lead  to  naturalism  lead  logically  to  fiction. 
Consequently,  the  so-called  Gospel  history  which  lay  at  the  basis 
of  Christianity  is  after  all  mere  myth. 

We  are  not  free  from  similar  suggestions  to-day.  With  all  the 
recovery  of  the  Gospels  to  the  Apostolic  century,  we  face  the 
questions  not  only  whether  the  religious  enthusiasm  of  the  Early 
Church  did  not  largely  idealize  the  Jesus  of  the  Gospels,  but  also 
whether  the  Jesus  on  whom  the  Christianity  of  the  centuries  has 
rested  the  convictions  of  its  faith  ever  so  existed  as  to  justify  that 
faith  —  whether  the  presentation  of  His  character  and  His  life, 
His  consciousness  of  His  relation  to  God  and  to  man  which  the 
Gospels  give,  is  not  after  all  so  historically  unreliable  as  to  leave 
the  Christian  faith  in  Him  as  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Saviour  of 
the  world  with  nothing  of  fact  on  which  to  stand.  This  is 
frankly  where  we  are  brought  by  such  men  as  Schmiedel  and 
Wellhausen,  to  say  nothing  of  the  hopeless  negativism  of  Kalthoff 
and  F.  W.  Newman. 

But  as  the  position  of  Strauss  in  his  Life  of  Christ  seventy 
years  ago  proved  to  be  a  by-product  of  Tubingenism  rather  than 
its  final  outcome,  so  is  this  skeptical  attitude  to  the  Gospels 
likely  to  prove  in  its  relation  to  the  scientific  thought  of  our  day. 
With  all  the  shifting  struggles  of  a  restless  radicalism,  which 
seems  just  now  to  be  conspicuously  in  evidence,  it  is  coming  to  be 
recognized  not  only  as  an  intellectual,  but  as  a  critical  impossi- 
bility that  the  common  faith  of  the  Early  Church  could  have 
had  its  origin  in  anything  less  than  the  actual  consciousness  of 
Jesus  regarding  Himself. 

II.  The  Epistolary  Writings,  (i)  The  Pauline  Epistles. 
—  The  historical  presuppositions  with  which  the  Tubingen 
School  conditioned  their  criticism  of  the  New  Testament  writ- 
ings left  but  four  of  Paul's  Epistles  genuine,  and  these  were 
the  four  which  betrayed  the  struggle  between  the  Pauline  and 
Petrine  parties  in  the  Apostolic  Church  —  First  and  Second 
Corinthians,  Galatians,  and  Romans.  In  fact,  these  four 
Epistles  and  the  Apocalypse  were  to  this  School  the  only  gen- 
uine writings  in  the  New  Testament.  These  Epistles  became 
thus  not  only  the  great  witnesses  to  the  Apostolic  age,  but  practi- 
cally the  sole  witnesses  to  the  origin  of  Christianity;  and  while 
the  historical  fact  of  Christ  was  not  denied,  or  even  his  technical 


HIGHER   CRITICISM    OF   NEW   TESTAMENT     115 

relation  to  Christianity  as  its  founder  questioned,  he  receded  so 
into  the  background  through  the  unhistorical  value  of  the  Gos- 
pel records  that  to  all  intents  and  purposes  the  character  and  the 
conception  of  the  Christian  religion  gathered  around  Paul. 

With  the  destruction  of  these  presuppositions  the  Pauline 
Epistles  came  to  their  right  to  be  interpreted  in  accordance  with 
the  claims  of  origin  and  authorship  which  they  made  for  them- 
selves, and  to  be  accepted  or  rejected  as  they  showed  themselves 
to  be  or  not  to  be  consistent  with  their  claims. 

This  has  resulted  in  the  reassignment  to  the  Apostle  of  almost 
all  his  writings.  Second  Thessalonians  is  still  doubted  in  some 
quarters  because  of  its  troublesome  "Man  of  Sin"  passage. 
Ephesians  is  still  queried  by  many  because  of  its  close  literary 
parallelism  to  Colossians  and  its  fancied  disclosure  of  a  later 
Gnosticism ;  while  the  unquestioned  difficulties  in  language,  style, 
and  statement  displayed  by  the  Pastoral  Epistles  render  them 
still  the  most  assailed  of  all  his  asserted  writings.  In  the  last 
few  years,  however,  a  saner  judgment  has  shown  itself  in  respect 
to  these  antilegomena.  The  study  given  to  the  Jewish  back- 
ground of  the  Gospel  and  Apostolic  times  has  disclosed  on  the 
part  of  the  Thessalonian  passage  quite  as  natural  a  relation  to 
the  current  legends  of  the  Antichrist  as  to  anything  in  the  apoca- 
lyptics  of  the  post-Pauline  age;  the  investigations  of  the 
origins  of  Gnosticism  have  shown  the  peculiarly  elemental,  and 
consequently  early,  character  of  the  errors  combated  in 
Ephesians,  while  its  literary  relation  to  Colossians  has  come 
to  be  recognized  as  natural  in  the  circumstances  of  a  synchro- 
nous writing  to  churches  located  in  the  same  general  region 
and  subject  thus  to  the  same  general  disorders;  finally,  the 
problem  of  the  Pastorals'  relation  to  the  developed  thought 
and  organization  of  the  Church  shows  signs  of  being  cleared 
up  through  the  growing  recognition  in  these  letters  of  the 
primitive  features  which  after  all  characterized  the  Apostolic 
age. 

This  progress  towards  recovery  of  the  Pauline  Epistles,  how- 
ever, has  not  been  uninterrupted.  As  in  the  case  of  the  Gospels, 
so  with  the  Pauline  Epistles  there  was  a  by-product  of  Tiibingen- 
ism  in  the  radical  theory  of  Bruno  Bauer  (1850),  who  held  that 
the  argument  which,  on  the  Tubingen  basis  of  an  unhistorical 
record  of  the  Church's  history  (Acts),  led  to  a  largely  rejected 


ii6  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

literature,  really  led  to  no  literature  at  all.  He  consequently  re- 
jected the  entire  New  Testament.  But  such  radicalism  was 
without  influence,  and  accounts  for  the  significant  lack  of  recep- 
tion given  to  the  recrudescence  of  his  ideas  in  what  is  known  as 
the  modern  Dutch  school  of  criticism,  which  ventures  essentially 
to  reaffirm  his  position  (Loman,  1882-86;  Pierson  and  Naber, 
1886;  van  Manen,  1891).  Certain  less  radical  members  of  this 
school  have  applied  to  the  Pauline  writings  the  principles  of 
composite  authorship;  and  while  the  failure  of  the  application 
may  be  said  to  be  conspicuous,  it  has  opened  a  line  of  investiga- 
tion which  has  borne  some  fruit  in  a  possible  solving  of  one  of  the 
problems  present  in  Second  Corinthians,  which  by  not  a  few 
scholars  to-day  is  held  to  be  composed  of  parts  of  two  letters 
of  Paul  (Kennedy,  The  Second  and  Third  Epistles  to  the 
Corinthians,   1 900) . 

(2)  The  Remaining  Epistles.  —  The  Tubingen  critics  assigned 
all  the  remaining  writings  to  the  sub- Apostolic  age  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  Apocalypse.  Later  scholarship  has  reassigned 
practically  all  of  them  to  the  Apostolic  century.  The  Second 
Epistle  of  Peter,  of  course,  still  finds  it  impossible  to  secure  a  place 
in  the  Canon.  The  fact  of  its  exceedingly  late  appearance,  to- 
gether with  its  startling  divergence  from  the  First  Epistle  and  its 
suspicious  literary  resemblance  to  Jude,  are  critical  obstacles 
which  to  all  save  a  few  scholars  still  seem  insurmountable.  On 
the  other  hand,  its  companion  Petrine  letter  and  its  parallel 
Epistle  of  Jude  have  gained  largely  in  favor,  not  only  as  to  date, 
but  also  as  to  authorship.  The  Epistles  of  John  have  shared 
the  fortunes  of  the  Fourth  Gospel,  though  the  authorship  of  the 
Second  and  Third  letters  is  still  involved  in  the  general  question 
of  the  existence  and  the  literary  activity  of  the  "Presbyter." 
The  intimate  relation  of  Hebrews  to  the  troubles  which  naturally 
w^ould  arise  in  the  thought  and  life  of  the  Apostolic  Church  is 
now  quite  generally  recognized,  though  there  is  a  strong  tend- 
ency among  scholars  to  view  it  after  all  as  an  academic  address 
to  Gentile  readers;  while  the  mystery  of  its  authorship  and 
destination  seems  still  far  from  being  unraveled.  The  Epistle 
of  James  has  come  to  be  placed  by  many  among  the  early  writ- 
ings of  the  New  Testament,  by  some  among  the  later  ones,  and 
by  most  to  be  held  as  the  product  of  the  Brother  of  the  Lord. 

(3)  The  Apocalypse. — The  criticism  of  the  Apocalypse  has  been 


HIGHER    CRITICISM    OF   NEW  TESTAMENT     117 

somewhat  varied.  The  Tubingen  School  accepted  it  as  repre- 
sentative of  the  Jewish  side  of  the  Apostohc  controversy  and,  as 
such,  the  work  of  the  Apostle  John.  With  the  transference  into 
New  Testament  Criticism  of  documentary  methods  and  the 
newer  study  of  apocalyptic  literature,  it  came  to  be  considered  as 
a  redacted  work  by  an  unknown  writer,  or  writers,  based  upon 
early  Jewish  apocalypses,  or  derived  from  ancient  Babylonian 
written  and  unwritten  legend.  While  final  conclusions  have  not 
been  reached,  it  is  to-day  generally  held  to  be  a  Jewish  Christian 
work  of  the  time  of  the  Domitian  persecutions  (94-96  a.d.)  by 
a  single  author,  embodying  in  its  material  current  apocalyptic 
writings  which  in  their  form  may  have  been  influenced  more  or 
less  by  Babylonian  lore. 

From  the  above  review  it  is  clear  that  the  Criticism  of  these 
last  seventy-five  years  has  been  characterized  by  an  unmistakable 
progress  toward  reestablishing  the  New  Testament  writings  in 
vital  contact  with  the  life  and  thought  of  the  Apostolic  Church. 
This  progress  has  not  been  wholly  undisturbed ;  but  the  inter- 
ruptions have  come  from  unscientific  applications  of  the  principle 
of  historical  criticism  that  characterized  the  critical  revolution 
with  which  the  period  began  and  that,  in  spite  of  the  negative 
results  which  issued  at  the  first,  has  been  the  determining  in- 
fluence in  the  recovery  of  this  primitive  literature  of  the  Church. 

In  this  article  free  use  has  been  made  of  the  New  Testament  section 
contributed  by  the  writer  to  the  composite  article  on  "Exegesb"  in  the 
New  International  Encyclopedia. 


HISTORY  OF   THE   LIFE   OF   CHRIST 

Professor  Edwin  Knox  Mitchell,  D.D, 
Hartford  Theological  Seminary 

The  advance  during  the  past  seventy-five  years  in  the  treat- 
ment of  the  Life  of  Christ  has  perhaps  been  as  great  and  sig- 
nificant as  that  made  in  any  other  department  of  theology.  At 
the  beginning  of  this  period  Strauss  pubUshed  his  Leben  Jesii 
(in  1835)  and  startled  the  Christian  world  from  its  mediaeval 
slumbers.  It  is  true  that  skepticism  in  philosophy,  religion,  and 
morals  had  for  several  decades  disturbed  and  distressed  the 
minds  of  earnest  men  and  raised  many  questions  concerning  the 
foundations  of  the  Christian  faith.  Hume  had  denied  the  credi- 
bility of  miracles,  Voltaire  had  scoffed  at  everything  Christian, 
and  Reimarus  had  pronounced  Jesus  a  Jewish  revolutionist 
and  His  disciples  clever  conspirators.  Religion  was  at  low  ebb 
and  the  Rationalists  were  patrolling  the  coast.  All  miracle  and 
mystery  was  challenged  and  the  Creator  was  not  permitted  to 
rule  over  and  regulate  His  own  universe.  The  past  as  well  as 
the  present  was  under  suspicion.  Traditional  Greek  and  Roman 
history  were  declared  to  rest  on  fraud  and  fiction,  myth  and 
legend.  But  everything  now  was  to  be  explained  in  a  "natural" 
way,  and  the  mind  of  man  was  deemed  adequate  to  the  task. 
Theology  even  was  viewed  as  a  "natural"  science,  and  Christian 
history  a  sequence  of  secular  events.  The  Life  of  Christ  also 
had  come  to  be  conceived  in  a  "naturalistic"  way,  and  the 
Gospel  stories  interpreted  to  the  exclusion  of  the  supernatural, 
Hess,  Reinhard,  and  Herder  in  the  latter  decades  of  the  eighteenth 
century  had  written  works  on  the  Life  of  Christ,  which  mini- 
mized the  miraculous  and  found  "natural"  explanations  for 
most  of  the  Gospel  incidents.  Then  Paulus  in  1828  published 
his  Leben  Jesu  as  the  basis  of  a  pure  or  rational  history  of  primi- 
tive Christianity.  He  assumed  that  in  the  Gospels  we  must 
look  for  nothing  but  actual  facts,  and  that  these  facts  were 
natural  events,  which  had  only  taken  on  the  appearance  of  being 

118 


HISTORY   OF   THE   LIFE    OF   CHRIST         119 

supernatural  through  the  errors  of  commentators  or  the  defective 
apprehension  and  judgment  of  the  narrators.  In  the  execution 
of  the  task  before  him,  Paulus  reduced  the  Biblical  narratives 
to  commonplace  stories,  with  little  or  no  religious,  or  even  moral, 
significance.  This  "natural"  interpretation  of  Jesus'  life-work 
proved  it  hardly  worth  the  doing,  and  indeed  almost  trivial, 
though  He  was  not  lacking  in  cleverness.  Paulus's  attitude, 
however,  was  not  wholly  appreciated,  since  men  like  Schleier- 
macher  adopted  the  principles  of  "natural"  interpretation  under 
modified  forms.  For  example,  when  it  came  to  the  story  of 
the  resurrection,  Schleiermacher  could  find  no  better  explana- 
tion than  that  Jesus  had  not  really  died,  but  only  swooned, 
and  later  came  to  life  again.  Hase  had  likewise  in  his  Lehen 
Jesu  (1829)  reduced  the  miraculous  to  the  vanishing  point, 
though  he  sought  to  preserve,  as  did  Schleiermacher,  the  spirit- 
ual and  moral  import  of  the  Gospel  history.  This  was  accom- 
plished by  making  the  Gospel  of  John,  with  its  relatively  few 
concrete  miracles,  the  reliable,  authenticated  source  of  informa- 
tion for  the  earthly  career  of  Christ. 

But  Strauss  put  an  end  to  this  form  of  "natural  explanation" 
of  the  Gospel  events,  yet  he,  at  the  same  time,  created  a  far 
greater  crisis  in  Christendom.  Strauss  assumed  that  the  Gospel 
stories  are  in  warp  and  woof  mythical  and  legendary.  "The 
simple  historical  structure  of  the  life  of  Jesus,"  he  declared, 
"  was  hung  with  the  most  varied  and  suggestive  tapestry  of  de- 
vout reflections  and  fancies,  all  the  ideas  entertained  by  primi- 
tive Christianity  relative  to  its  lost  Master  being  transformed 
into  facts  and  woven  into  the  course  of  his  life-history."  In 
this  criticism  of  the  Gospel  history  there  was  the  cold  indif- 
ference of  fate,  weighing  as  in  a  balance  the  Christ  of  Christen- 
dom and  pronouncing  Him  a  man  of  earthly  mold,  adorned 
in  the  garb  of  myth  and  legend.  The  effect  of  the  publication 
of  Strauss's  work  was  tremendous,  throwing  both  the  theological 
and  lay  world  into  a  panic  of  fear  and  horror.  The  author  had 
not  anticipated  this  and  could  not  really  understand  the  reasons 
for  it.  He  had  set  out,  as  Pfleiderer  maintains,  under  the  im- 
pulse of  the  Hegelian  philosophy,  to  expound  the  essence  of 
the  Christian  faith  by  proving  it  to  consist  in  the  logical  con- 
sciousness of  the  man  Jesus'  metaphysical  relation  to  the  Ab- 
solute.    Of  course,  Strauss  shared  the  Rationalists'  settled  dis- 


I20  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

belief  in  the  possibility  of  miracles.  But  his  manner  of  getting 
rid  of  them  seemed  to  devout  believers  a  direct  attack  upon  both 
the  person  and  the  work  of  Christ,  and  this  they  hotly  resented. 
Strauss  had  discredited,  and  seemingly  well-nigh  destroyed, 
the  primary  sources  from  which  the  Church  derived  its  knowl- 
edge of  the  Life  of  Christ.  Tholuck,  Neander,  Ullmann, 
Ebrard,  Lange,  and  others  sprang  to  the  defense  of  the  Gospel 
history  and  sought  to  reportray  the  historic  Christ  and  prove 
Him  to  have  been  the  veritable,  supernatural  Son  of  God.  It 
is  true  that  they  each  and  all  made  concessions  to  Strauss's 
strictures  upon  the  recorded  miracles,  and  ofttimes  fell  back  upon 
"natural  explanations"  of  reputed  supernatural  events.  But 
Strauss's  opponents  showed  afar  deeper  insight  into  the  ministry 
and  character  of  Christ  than  had  the  author  of  the  Lehen  Jesu, 
and  yet  they  were  conscious  of  not  having  completely  repelled 
his  attack.  The  old  security  had  gone  and  the  new  founda- 
tions were  not  yet  rendered  firm  and  stable. 

But  the  phase  of  things  changed  suddenly.  The  mythical 
theory  was  displaced  by  a  sounder  criticism  of  the  Gospels  and 
a  new  theory  of  the  origin  and  development  of  the  Christian 
religion.  Strauss's  work  had  been  negative  and  destructive; 
Baur's  was  positive  and  constructive.  Once  more  Hegel's 
philosophy  was  adopted  as  the  guiding  principle,  and  made  to 
explain  the  rise  of  Christianity  and  the  progress  of  events  in  the 
early  centuries.  But  Baur  went  deeper  than  Strauss  and  at- 
tempted to  account  for  the  origin  and  peculiar  characteristics  of 
each  separate  New  Testament  document.  He  soon  saw  that  the 
four  great  Epistles  of  Paul  are  the  best  authenticated  portions 
of  this  primitive  literature  and  furnish  an  indestructible  source 
and  witness  for  the  history  of  the  times.  Here  was  a  great  and 
permanent  advance.  Paul's  Epistles  presuppose  the  Jesus  of 
the  Gospels  and  bear  testimony  to  His  unique  character.  But 
Baur's  defect  was  in  overworking  his  philosophical  principle 
and  construing  the  early  Christian  history  as  a  clash  of  rival 
parties  out  of  which  ultimately  came  a  compromise.  This 
"tendence  theory,"  when  used  toexplain  theorigin  of  the  Gospels, 
charged  their  authors  with  more  or  less  of  conscious  distortion 
of  the  facts  concerning  the  Life  of  Christ,  and  thereby  cast  dis- 
credit upon  the  New  Testament  Scriptures.  This  was  resented 
by  conservative  theologians,  and  the  later  editions  of  Neander's, 


HISTORY   OF   THE   LIFE    OF   CHRIST         121 

Lange's,  and  other  "orthodox"  Lives  of  Christ  took  account  of 
Baur's  criticism  of  the  Gospels,  and  sought  to  defend  them  from 
it.  New  champions  of  the  old  faith  also  arose,  as  well  as  de- 
fenders of  the  Baur  hypothesis.  Ritschl  in  the  second  edition 
of  his  Entstehung  der  altkatholischen  Kirche  (1857)  ventured  to 
renounce  Baur's  fundamental  principle  of  rival  parties  and  to 
propose  a  new  theory  of  the  origin  of  Christianity. 

Ritschl  maintained  that  in  the  person  of  Jesus  and  the  faith 
of  the  first  Apostles  we  have  the  common  starting-point  of  the 
various  subsequent  parties.  And  Paul  was  also  in  agreement 
on  fundamental  points,  though  he  had  a  broader  outlook  upon 
the  gentile  world  and  a  fuller  appreciation  of  the  universalism 
in  Jesus'  teaching.  "Catholic  Christianity"  was  a  distinct  stage 
of  religious  thought  within  the  sphere  of  gentile  Christianity. 
It  did  not  depend  wholly  upon  the  authority  of  Paul,  but  rested 
also  upon  the  Old  Testament,  the  teaching  of  Christ,  and  the 
authority  of  all  the  Apostles.  Ritschl  accordingly  assumed 
that  the  fountain  of  the  Christian  faith  was  essentially  pure, 
which  marks  his  divergence  from  both  Strauss  and  Baur.  But 
he  also  assumed  that  the  Old  Catholic  Church  was  formed  and 
fashioned  under  the  influence  of  Hellenism  and  the  enWroning 
pagan  religions,  and  was  a  distinct  departure  from  and  perver- 
sion of  primitive  Christianity.  And  the  person  of  Jesus  suf- 
fered through  this  transformation;  or,  rather,  He  was  improp- 
erly credited  with  preexistence  and  exalted  to  the  plane  of  Deity, 
Ritschl,  of  course,  discounted,  or  rather  disregarded,  the  Fourth 
Gospel  and  rejected  the  later  Pauline  epistles.  Jesus  was  re- 
duced to  the  stature  of  a  prophet,  though  He  has  the  "value" 
of  incarnate  Deity  to  the  religious  soul.  Primitive  Christianity 
drew  its  inspiration  from  Jesus'  teaching  concerning  the  King- 
dom of  God,  rather  than  from  faith  in  the  Son  of  God,  who  is 
one  with  the  Father  and  partakes  of  the  Divine  essence.  Once 
more  the  Jesus  of  history  is  shorn  of  His  supernatural  character. 
But  this  is  accomplished  without  imputing  sinister  motives  to 
Him  or  His  first  followers.  The  corruption  of  the  Christian 
faith  came  from  environing  Hellenism  and  paganism. 

Renan  published  his  Vie  de  Jesus  in  1863  and  produced  a 
sensation  almost  equal  to  that  created  by  Strauss  a  generation 
earlier.  The  Frenchman  was  primarily  a  poet,  with  a  vivid 
imagination  that  could  paint  Oriental  scenery  and  life  in  fasci- 


122  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

nating  colors  and  with  startling  verisimilitude.  The  figure  of 
Jesus  which  Renan  portrays  is  winsome,  but  lacks  moral  gran- 
deur and  rises  little  above  the  plane  of  the  religious  enthusiast 
who  is  finally  disillusioned  by  the  stern  course  of  events.  Myth 
and  legend  are  again  at  work  and  our  Gospels  made  to  present 
us  with  an  idealized  portrait  of  a  Galilean  peasant,  whom  the 
fond  hopes  and  devoted  love  of  His  countrymen  and  disciples 
raised  to  divine  rank  and  made  the  founder  of  a  beautiful,  though 
largely  romantic,  religion.  Renan's  characters  are  human  beings 
of  flesh  and  blood,  and  they  walk  along  real  highways,  over 
actual  hills,  under  veritable  skies,  wearing  the  garb  and  speaking 
the  language  of  Palestine.  But  his  Jesus  is  too  weak  and  waver- 
ing to  have  changed  the  whole  course  of  history  and  "lifted 
empires  off  their  hinges."  Renan's  Life  of  Jesus  was  followed 
the  next  year  by  Strauss's  Life  of  Jesus  for  the  German  people, 
in  which  the  author  sought  to  avoid  some  of  the  objections  which 
had  been  raised  against  his  first  work.  No  adequate  account, 
however,  is  given  of  the  origin  of  the  Gospels  or  of  the  Christian 
faith;  nor  is  the  assumption  that  these  are  founded  on  myth 
and  legend  at  all  proven.  Schenkel's  Characterhild  Jesu  ap- 
peared in  1864  and  marks  an  advance,  though  his  treatment 
of  the  subject  aroused  violent  opposition  in  Germany.  Schenkel 
maintained  the  priority  of  Mark's  Gospel  and  admitted  the 
general  trustworthiness  of  the  Synoptists.  The  Fourth  Gospel 
was  rejected  as  pseudonymous  and  unreliable.  The  character 
of  Jesus  was  drawn  as  a  composite  portrait  from  the  Synoptic 
Gospels,  but  He  was  exhibited  as  more  like  a  modern  idealist 
and  reformer  than  the  Christ  of  history.  Another  and  greater 
book  was  published  a  few  years  later  by  Keim,  entitled  Ge- 
schichte  Jesu  von  Nazara  (1864-72).  This  large  three- volume 
work  was  the  most  thoroughgoing  treatment  of  the  subject 
that  had  yet  appeared,  though  it  has  grave  defects.  The  author 
assumed  the  priority  of  Matthew,  and  treats  Mark's  Gospel  as 
an  abridgment  of  the  First  and  Third  Gospels  and  without  origi- 
nal character.  He  also  rejected  the  Fourth  Gospel  as  actual 
history,  though  recognizing  its  religious  import.  Keim's  whole 
treatment  is  far  saner  and  more  sympathetic  than  that  of  his 
predecessors,  and  he  touched  many  of  the  deepest  problems 
connected  with  the  subject.  Yet  much  work  needed  to  be  done 
before  his  results  could  be  either  confirmed  or  refuted. 


HISTORY   OF   THE   LIFE    OF   CHRIST         123 

Renan  and  the  whole  eclectic  school  provoked  a  storm  of 
protest  in  all  lands.  Conservative  theologians  wrote  Lives  of 
Christ  which  were  at  the  same  time  replies  to  the  attacks  of 
the  skeptics,  rationalists,  and  eclectics.  Such  were  Luthardt, 
Beyschlag,  and  Weiss  in  Germany,  de  Pressense  in  France,  and 
Ellicott,  Seeley,  Geikie,  Fairbairn,  Farrar,  Edersheim,  Stalker, 
and  others  in  England.  These  all  sought  to  defend  the  Life 
of  Christ  and  to  construct  it  out  of  the  Gospel  sources,  assuming 
the  latter  to  be  essentially  genuine  and  trustworthy.  But  many 
concessions  were  made  to  the  critics  and  a  saner  exe2;esis  be<ian 
to  prevail.  It  is  manifest  that  the  treatment  of  the  Life  of  Christ 
was  being  conditioned  and  greatly  modified  by  the  general  ad- 
vance made  in  Biblical  and  historical  studies.  De  Wette,  Bleek, 
Reuss,  Holtzmann,  and  others  had  been  developing  the  science 
of  New  Testament  Introduction;  Bleek,  Meyer,  Godet,  Weiss, 
Alford,  Ellicott,  and  others  introduced  a  sounder  exegesis  based 
upon  a  broader  knowledge  of  the  history,  language,  and  litera- 
ture of  the  epoch  in  question;  Neander,  Ewald,  Weitzsiicker, 
Hausrath,  Lechler,de Pressense,  Schiirer,  Wellhausen,and  others 
concentrated  attention  upon  the  New  Testament  Times  and 
made  that  study  a  special  branch  of  historical  research.  Rob- 
inson, Tobler,  Guerin,  and  others  made  the  Bible  lands  more 
real  and  the  Life  of  Christ  more  conceivable;  while  Harvey, 
Wieseler,  Caspari,  Andrews,  and  others  cleared  up  many  ques- 
tions in  chronology.  The  science  of  Biblical  Theology  was 
soon  added,  and  "Paulinism"  was  treated  as  a  particular  phase 
of  Apostolic  history.  Each  and  all  of  these  new  "sciences"  or 
departments  of  research  reacted  powerfully  upon  the  treatment 
of  the  Life  of  Christ.  The  doctrine  of  evolution  had  in  the 
meantime  come  in  to  pervade  and  dominate  the  treatment  of 
all  historic  themes.  The  question  of  the  possibility  of  mira- 
cles was  raised  once  again,  and  the  tendency  to  get  rid  of  those 
described  in  the  Gospels  received  a  new  impulse.  Compendious 
Lives  of  Christ  continued  to  be  written  in  the  eighties  and  nine- 
ties, but  marked  attention  was  given  to  particular  questions  and 
problems  connected  with  the  subject. 

With  the  turn  of  the  century  the  whole  question  entered  upon 
a  new  phase  and  course  of  development.  First  of  all  the  problem 
of  the  sources  was  now  recognized  as  absolutely  primary.  How 
are  the  first  three  Gospels  interrelated  ?     What  was  the  point  of 


124  RECENT  CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

view  and  the  purpose  of  the  author  of  the  Gospel  of  Mark? 
Of  Matthew?  Of  Luke?  What  is  the  solution  of  the  Johan- 
nine  problem  and  the  relation  of  the  Fourth  Gospel  to  the  Life 
of  Christ  ?  What  was  the  relation  of  Paul  to  the  historic  Christy 
and  what  is  the  value  of  the  testimony  of  the  "  first  interpreters  "  ? 
Then  there  has  arisen  the  question  of  languages  and  the  relation 
of  Aramaic  and  Greek  in  New  Testament  Times.  Later  still  the 
finding  of  numerous  first  and  second  century  Greek  inscriptions^ 
ostraca,  and  papyri  has  thrown  the  whole  linguistic  problem  into 
the  melting-pot  and  raised  new  difficulties  for  the  historian  of 
the  epoch.  But  a  greater  crisis  has  come  through  the  discovery 
of  the  prevalence  of  apocalyptic  ideas  in  the  Jewish  thought  of 
the  times,  and  the  fact  that  these  beliefs  influenced  the  New 
Testament  authors  and  may  have  given  direction  to  Jesus^ 
teaching  and  course  of  life.  To  what  extent  was  He  a  child  of 
His  times  in  respect  of  these  things?  In  connection  with  this 
has  arisen  the  question  of  Jesus'  self-consciousness  and  His 
personal  beliefs  and  attitudes.  Did  He  claim  to  be  the  Messiah, 
and,  if  so,  what  kind  of  a  Messiah  ?  What  kind  of  a  Kingdom 
did  He  proclaim  and  how  did  He  relate  Himself  to  that  King- 
dom? Did  He  foresee  and  foretell  His  own  death  and  resur- 
rection? What  was  His  affirmed  relation  to  God,  and  was  He 
"without  sin"?  Did  He  establish  a  Church  and  sanction  the 
rites  of  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper?  Did  He  really  rise 
from  the  tomb  and  appear  to  His  disciples  and  send  them  forth 
to  evangelize  the  world?  Was  He  begotten  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
and  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary  ?  These  and  many  other  similar 
questions  are  waiting  to  be  more  fully  answered,  and  the  recon- 
struction of  the  Life  of  Christ  must  therefore  now  proceed  slowly. 
However,  there  is  no  cessation  of  activity,  and  the  output  of 
"Lives"  was  never  so  great  as  during  the  past  decade.  These 
have  mostly  been  brief  in  compass,  and  interpretative  in  character. 
On  the  one  hand,  we  have  such  works  as  Reville's  Jesus  de 
Nazareth,  Schmiedel's  "Gospels"  in  the  Encyclopedia  Biblicay 
Schmidt's  Prophet  of  Nazareth,  Bousset's  Jesus,  Neumann's 
Jesus,  and  Weinel's  Jesus,  and  many  more,  where  the  sources 
have  been  trimmed  down  to  the  minimum  and  the  life  and  char- 
acter of  Jesus  interpreted  in  a  correspondingly  contracted  way. 
The  supernatural  element  is  practically  eliminated  and  Jesus 
reduced  to  the  stature  of  a  man.     On  the  other  hand,  we  have 


HISTORY   OF   THE   LIFE    OF   CHRIST         125 

such  "Lives"  as  Andrews's,  Gilbert's,  Rhees's,  Sanday's  (in 
Hastings^ 5  Dictionary),  Bruce's  (in  the  Encyclopcedia  Biblica), 
Denny's  (in  the  Standard  Bible  Dictionary),  and  many  others, 
maintaining  the  essential  trustworthiness  of  the  Gospel  sources 
and  portraying  Jesus  as  the  unique  Son  of  God.  And,  finally, 
there  are  innumerable  works  and  treatises  dealing  with  some 
phase  or  phases  of  Jesus'  life,  or  seeking  to  interpret  Him  to 
the  religious  consciousness  of  the  age.  Recent  works  by  Jo- 
hannes Weiss,  Wrede,  Schweitzer,  and  Sanday  are  significant. 
But  many  of  the  writers  of  these  monographs  seem  to  forget  that 
in  summing  up  historical  facts  two  and  two  ofttimes  make  more 
than  four.  Jesus  was  greater  by  far  than  the  sum  of  all  His 
words  and  deeds.  And  He  will  loom  up  yet  and  ere  long  as 
the  transcendent  Son  of  Man  and  the  radiant  Son  of  God. 


HISTORY   OF   NEW  TESTAMENT   TIMES 

Rev.  John  Moore  Trout,  B.D. 

Presbyterian  Church,  Dobbs  Ferry,  N.Y. 

The  study  of  New  Testament  Times  as  a  distinct  discipline 
falls  almost  entirely  within  the  period  covered  by  these  anniver- 
sary papers,  and,  like  so  many  other  branches  of  Biblical  study, 
owes  its  origin  to  the  critical  and  historical  revival  at  the  close 
of  the  eighteenth  and  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
In  this  paper  I  am  asked  to  note  the  main  lines  of  advance  in 
the  science  during  the  last  seventy-five  years.  These  are  mainly 
four. 

I.  Determination  of  the  scope  and  proper  limits  of  the  sub- 
ject. The  first  separate  treatment  of  the  subject  is  found  in  the 
lectures  of  the  Bonn  Professor,  M.  Schneckenberger,  on  The 
History  of  New  Testament  Times,  edited  posthumously  by  Th. 
Loblein,  and  published  in  1862.  As  outlined  in  these  lectures 
the  subject  includes  not  only  the  study  of  conditions  among  the 
Jewish  people,  internal  and  external,  in  the  age  of  Jesus,  but  also 
general  religious  conditions  in  the  Roman  Empire  at  the  time. 
On  the  other  hand,  in  the  larger  work  of  Hausrath,  bearing 
the  same  title,  published  in  1873-77,  the  history  of  New  Testa- 
ment Times  is  made  to  include  also  the  history  of  the  early 
Christian  Church,  material  which  is  now  commonly  treated 
separately  as  the  History  of  Christianity  in  Apostolic  Times. 
The  first  edition  of  Schiirer's  great  work  bore  the  same  title  as 
Schneckenberger' s  lectures  and  Hausrath's  treatise.  This  was 
subsequently  rejected,  because  of  its  indefiniteness  and  verbal 
inaccuracy.  As  finally  outlined  by  Schiirer,  the  subject  is  limited 
to  the  study  of  the  Jewish  people  in  the  age  of  Christ,  including 
an  outline  of  the  history  of  the  period,  and  a  survey  of  social  and 
religious  conditions.  This  outline  is  followed  by  most  modern 
scholars,  notably  by  Buhl  and  Mathews. 

II.  During  the  period  under  discussion  there  has  been  rapid 
increase  in  historical  data  available  for  the  study. 

126 


HISTORY   OF    NEW   TESTAMENT   TIMES       127 

Practically  the  only  sources,  outside  the  classical  authors 
used  by  the  earlier  writers,  were  the  Old  and  New  Testaments; 
some  of  the  Apocryphal  Books,  especially  I  and  II  Maccabees; 
and  the  writings  of  Josephus.  These  have  all  been  subjected  to 
thorough  critical  study,  with  the  result  that  in  some  instances 
the  value  of  a  given  source  has  been  lessened  —  notably  in  the 
case  of  II  Maccabees,  and  some  parts  of  Josephus.  On  the 
other  hand,  much  material  in  the  Old  Testament,  formerly 
assigned  to  an  early  date,  is  now  available  for  the  study  of  the 
Maccabean  and  Greek  periods  of  Jewish  history  —  notably 
portions  of  the  Book  of  Isaiah,  some  of  the  Psalms,  some  of  the 
later  Prophets,  and  the  Book  of  Daniel, 

From  a  variety  of  new  sources  increased  light  has  come.  New 
surveys  and  the  location  by  geographical  study  of  many  ancient 
sites  and  cities  have  cleared  up  many  important  points  in  con- 
temporaneous Jewish  history,  and  often  thrown  direct  light 
upon  the  New  Testament  narrative.  The  two  monumental 
books  by  George  Adam  Smith,  his  Historical  Geography  and 
his  Jerusalem,  are  indispensable  aids  in  understanding  Jesus 
and  His  times.  Of  importance  also  for  the  history  have  been  the 
discovery  and  collection  of  numerous  coins  of  the  period.  These 
have  enabled  us  to  fix  many  dates  and  have  also  thrown  light 
upon  questions  affecting  the  relation  of  foreign  rulers  to  the 
Jews  and  Jewish  life. 

Our  knowledge  of  New  Testament  Times  has  been  enlarged 
also  through  extensive  archaeological  investigations  carried  on 
during  the  last  half  century.  Contributions  have  come,  too, 
from  the  study  of  language  and  of  language  conditions  in 
Palestine,  and  from  the  study  of  many  new  inscriptions  —  not- 
ably Jewish  tomb  inscriptions  found  at  various  points  in  the 
Roman  Empire.  Recent  finds  of  papyri  in  Egypt  confirm  the 
existence  of  important  Jewish  synagogues  in  Egypt  in  the  first 
century  B.C.,  and  indicate  a  close  connection  with  Jewish  life 
in  the  land.  Some  of  these  more  recent  results  are  summarized 
by  Schiirer  in  the  new  (fourth)  edition  of  part  of  his  history 
(see  especially  the  Preface). 

To  sum  up  general  results  in  this  field:  legendary  and 
interpolated  elements  have  been  eliminated  from  the  sources 
by  criticism;  important  details  in  the  history  have  been  supplied 
by  archaeology;    the  extent  of  foreign  influence  upon  Jewish 


128  RECENT  CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

life,  and  the  close  relation  between  Jewish  life  in  the  land  and 
outside  the  land  have  been  indicated  by  coins  and  inscriptions. 
In  all  these  directions  there  is  prospect  of  new  and  even  more 
important  contributions  to  our  subject. 

III.  During  the  last  seventy-five  years  our  knowledge  of 
internal  social  conditions  among  the  Jews  has  grown  much  more 
exact.  Here  the  archaeological  investigations  referred  to  above 
have  shown  some  of  their  most  important  results.  The  collecting 
and  study  by  Mionnet,  de  Saulcy,  and  notably  by  Madden,  in 
his  Coins  of  the  Jews,  of  numerous  contemporary  coins  be- 
longing to  the  land  and  to  adjacent  cities;  work  on  inscriptions 
from  the  same  region  by  Waddington,  Clermont-Ganneau,  and 
others;  and  more  recently,  explorations  among  the  cities  east 
of  the  Jordan  by  Conder,  Schumacher,  and  others  —  all  have 
tended  to  emphasize  the  strongly  Hellenistic  character  of  the 
civilization  which  pressed  in  upon  the  land  from  every  side. 
The  extent  to  which  these  influences  penetrated  Jewish  life  and 
thought  has  been  in  part  shown  by  careful  study  of  the  Greek 
elements  in  the  Jewish  language  in  New  Testament  times  by 
Schiirer,  Meyer,  and  others,  a  careful  summary  of  which  has 
been  given  by  Th.  Zahn  in  the  second  chapter  of  his  New 
Testament  Introduction. 

Within  the  region  that  remained  more  or  less  distinctly  Jewish 
research  has  established  important  differences.  Galilee  has 
grown  more  and  more  distinct  from  Judaea,  which  enables  us  to 
understand  many  things  in  the  ministry,  and  even  the  character, 
of  Jesus,  which  otherwise  must  have  remained  inexplicable, 
or  at  least,  obscure.  Notable  advance  has  been  made  also  in  the 
last  fifty  years  in  the  study  of  the  Jewish  parties,  so  frequently 
mentioned  in  the  New  Testament  and  elsewhere.  The  origin 
and  growth  of  Pharisaism  has  been  carefully  traced  by  a  num- 
ber of  distinguished  scholars,  notably  by  Geiger,  Cohen,  and 
Bertholet. 

The  relation  of  the  Pharisees  to  the  Sadducaic  party  has  like- 
wise been  made  the  subject  of  careful  investigation.  Here 
special  mention  must  be  made  of  the  work  done  in  this  field  by 
the  distinguished  scholar  and  critic,  J.  Wellhausen.  Nowhere 
has  his  work  been  more  brilliant  than  here.  His  compara- 
tively short  monograph  on  The  Pharisees  and  Sadducees,  pub- 
lished in  1874,  like  so  many  other  of  his  works,  has  proved  epoch- 


HISTORY    OF    NEW   TESTAMENT   TIMES       129 

making.  The  conclusion  there  reached  and  restated  without 
essential  modification  in  the  last  edition  of  his  Israelitish  and 
Jewish  History,  that  the  distinction  between  these  parties  is  to 
be  found  in  their  respective  tendencies,  rather  than  in  their 
separate  tenets,  is  made  the  point  of  departure  in  nearly  all  sub- 
sequent studies.  Of  late,  also,  much  attention  has  been  devoted 
to  the  study  of  Essenism,  because  of  its  possible  influence  upon 
Jesus  Himself  and  some  of  the  Gospels.  The  thoroughly 
Jewish  character  of  the  sect  may  be  regarded  as  established. 
At  the  same  time,  the  influence  of  foreign  ideas  upon  the  sect  is 
generally  admitted,  although  it  remains  to  be  finally  determined 
whether  this  influence  was  predominatingly  Parsee,  or  Pythago- 
rean, or  both. 

The  general  result  in  investigations  in  all  these  fields  may  be 
briefly  stated  in  Wellhausen's  own  words:  "The  limits  of 
Judaism  must  not  be  too  narrowly  conceived.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  strictness  of  the  Pharisaic  spirit,  a  great  number 
and  variety  of  influences  continued  to  be  exerted  upon  it  from 
without." 

IV.  The  most  notable  advance  is  shown  in  the  clearer  idea 
which  we  have  to-day  of  the  development  of  religious  concep- 
tions, presupposed  and  utilized  in  the  New  Testament. 

This  is  a  comparatively  new  field,  developed  largely  under  the 
influence  of  modern  evolutionary  conceptions.  For  the  first 
time,  within  a  generation,  as  a  result  of  much  critical  investiga- 
tion, the  mass  of  religious  literature  belonging  to  the  period  has 
been  put  in  chronological  order,  and  so  made  available  for  the 
study  of  religious  development.  Not  only  have  comparative 
dates  been  ascertained,  but  in  many  instances  the  particular 
source  of  a  given  work  has  been  determined,  so  that  it  is  pos- 
sible to  distinguish  the  various  currents  of  thought  which  inter- 
mingled in  the  time  of  Christ. 

A  strong  reflex  light  has  been  thrown  upon  contemporary 
religious  ideas  by  the  systematic  study  of  the  development  of 
Rabbinic  thought  by  Wiinsche,  Weber,  and  notably  by  Dalman 
in  his  Sayings  of  Jesus.  As  a  result  of  these  various  lines  of 
investigation  we  have  to-day  what  may  properly  be  called  a 
Theology  of  Later  Judaism,  distinct  alike  from  the  Theology  of 
the  Old  and  of  the  New  Testament,  but  intimately  connected 
with  both,  a  knowledge  of  which  is  indispensable  for  the  ade- 


I30  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

quate  interpretation  of  the  life  and  thought  of  Jesus  and  his 
immediate  followers. 

Particularly  fruitful  for  this  purpose  are  recent  investigations 
in  the  field  of  Apocalyptic  and  Messianic  literature.  Here,  also, 
much  of  the  material  is  of  comparatively  recent  origin.  The 
Ethiopic  Book  of  Enoch,  first  translated  from  the  Ethiopic  in 
1821  by  Lawrence,  —  carefully  reedited  in  1893  by  another 
English  scholar,  R.  H.  Charles,  in  the  light  of  newly  discovered 
Greek  and  Latin  fragments,  —  is  known  to  have  exerted  a  pow- 
erful influence  upon  the  formation  of  Jewish  religious  concep- 
tions prior  to  and  during  the  time  of  Christ,  and  even  affected 
the  terminology  of  the  New  Testament. 

Of  scarcely  less  importance  is  the  Book  of  Jubilees,  likewise 
brought  to  light  and  edited  during  our  period.  Mention  must 
be  made  also  of  the  Assumptio  Mosis,  discovered  in  a  Latin 
fragment  in  186 1,  and  of  the  Testimony  of  the  Twelve  Patri- 
archs, the  older  and  very  important  Jewish  portions  of  which 
have  in  recent  years  been  critically  distinguished  from  the  later 
interpolated  portions. 

Largely  on  the  basis  of  this  and  of  other  new  material,  there 
has  developed  a  voluminous  and  constantly  increasing  litera- 
ture, dealing  with  the  specific  relations  of  these  older  writings 
to  the  Apocalyptic  and  Messianic  ideas  current  in  the  Gospels 
and  other  New  Testament  writings.  There  is  space  here  to 
mention  only  the  most  important  of  these  works. 

The  general  course  of  the  development  of  the  Apocalyptic 
idea  is  suggestively  outlined,  especially  for  the  early  part  of 
the  period,  by  Canon  Cheyne,  in  his  lectures  on  Jewish  Religious 
Life  after  the  Exile,  while  the  consummation  of  the  movement 
in  the  Gospel  is  brilliantly  portrayed  by  Wellhausen  in  the  last 
chapter  of  his  History. 

Of  recent  contributors  to  the  distinctly  Messianic  side  of  the 
question,  mention  may  be  made  of  Baldensperger's  suggestive 
monograph  on  the  Self -Consciousness  of  Jesus  in  the  Light  of  the 
Messianic  Hopes  of  his  Time ;  and  of  the  important  summary 
at  the  beginning  of  Shailer  Mathews'  Messianic  Hope  in  the 
New  Testament. 

Finally,  on  the  distinctly  eschatological  side,  R.  H.  Charles, 
who  may  be  considered  a  pioneer  in  the  field  of  Apocalyptic 
and   Messianic  literature,  has  discussed  the  relation  of  New 


HISTORY   OF    NEW   TESTAMENT   TIMES       131 

Testament  eschatology  to  the  eschatology  of  later  Judaism  with 
great  learning  and  remarkable  clearness  in  the  Jowett  Lectures 
for  1898-99. 

Such  is  a  brief  outline  sketch  of  growth  and  extension  in 
the  study  of  New  Testament  Times  up  to  our  own  decade. 
Enough  has  been  said  to  make  it  apparent  that  no  branch  of 
Biblical  study  has  before  it  a  larger  field  or  a  more  hopeful 
future.  In  a  sense  it  commands  the  whole  range  of  Biblical 
learning.  It  is  able  to  avail  itself  at  once  of  all  established  critical 
results.  It  must  follow  the  investigations  of  archaeologists  with 
the  utmost  care.  New  literary  finds  must  be  examined  with  a 
view  to  the  possible  bearing  which  they  may  have  upon  the 
thought  of  the  age  in  which  Jesus  lived. 

No  task  is  more  delicate,  at  the  same  time  no  work  is  more 
important,  than  the  reconstruction,  from  material  gathered  out 
of  all  these  many  fields,  of  the  world  in  which  Jesus  lived,  out 
of  which  his  Gospel  was  formed.  Nor  is  the  practical  value  of 
studies  in  this  field  to  be  ignored,  for  the  accurate  and  vivid 
presentation  of  Jesus  in  relation  to  his  own  times  is  the  first 
requisite  for  the  proper  presentation  of  his  personality  and 
message  in  the  present  age. 


THEOLOGY   OF   THE   NEW  TESTAMENT* 

Professor  Edward  Everett  Nourse,  D.D. 
Hartford  Theological  Seminary 

When  we  pass  from  Old  Testament  to  New  Testament  The- 
ology, we  are  compelled  to  note  the  differences  as  well  as  the 
similarities  that  exist  between  these  two  closely  related  parts  of 
the  same  general  science  of  Biblical  Theology.  In  New  Testa- 
ment Theology  it  remains  true  that  we  are  dealing  mainly  with 
a  historical  problem,  but  it  is  a  problem  different  in  several  very 
important  respects  from  that  of  the  Old  Testament  religion.  In 
the  Old  Testament  we  are  concerned  with  the  religion  of  a  people, 
in  the  New  Testament  with  a  religious  movement  that  originated 
within  this  people,  within  their  religion,  and  rapidly  developed 
into  an  independent  Church,  not  perfectly  united,  including 
various  types  of  theological  opinion,  and  yet  having  as  its  dis- 
tinctive and  unifying  doctrine  the  belief  in  Jesus  as  the  Messiah. 
The  length  of  this  period  —  from  the  beginning  of  Jesus'  public 
ministry  to  the  last  book  of  the  New  Testament  —  was  prob- 
ably considerably  less  than  one  hundred  years.  This  was  a 
period  in  which  changes  took  place  very  rapidly.  While  in  the 
Old  Testament  we  have  to  deal  with  progress  from  century  to 
century,  in  the  New  Testament  we  are  concerned  with  decades. 
There  is  an  intensity  and  an  enthusiasm,  a  rapidity,  a  polemic, 
characteristic  of  the  New  Testament  period,  which  is  largely 
foreign  to  the  Old  Testament.  The  literary  problems  which 
call  for  solution  in  the  New  Testament  are  even  more  complex 
than  those  in  the  Old  Testament.  The  thought-environment 
in  the  midst  of  which  the  New  Testament  movement  took  place 
was  peculiarly  complex.  The  theology  of  Judaism  and  the 
common  beliefs  and  hopes  of  the  Jewish  people  were  condition- 
ing factors.  In  the  presence  of,  in  the  midst  of,  and  also  even 
in  opposition  to  these,  Jesus  set  forth  His  Gospel  (with  its  em- 

'  See  the  earlier  article  by  the  same  author  on  Biblical  Theology  and  Old 
Testament  Theology,  p.  69. 

132 


THEOLOGY    OF   THE    NEW  TESTAMENT     133 

phasis  on  Himself)  and  accomplished  His  ministry.  But  the 
Christian  Church  soon  found  itself  in  a  new  and  different  en- 
vironment —  that  of  the  larger  Graeco-Roman  world  outside  of 
Palestine  —  and  this  brought  with  it  new  problems,  new  influ- 
ences, and  led  to  new  developments. 

Briefly  speaking,  the  problem  of  New  Testament  Theology 
is  a  threefold  one:  (a)  what  Jesus  really  taught,  inclusive  of 
His  emphasis  on  Himself;  (b)  the  actual  beliefs  or  doctrines  of 
the  primitive  Apostolic  Church;  and  (c)  the  teachings  of  Paul. 
For  its  satisfactory  solution  the  problem  demands  not  only  an 
accurate  presentation  of  each  one  of  these  separate  factors,  but 
also  a  correct  statement  of  how  they  were  connected  or  inter- 
related in  the  complex  development  of  the  Apostolic  Church. 

Of  these  three  factors,  the  one  least  involved  in  complicated 
questions  of  literary  criticism  is  the  third  —  the  teachings  of 
Paul.  It  is  comparatively  easy  to  ascertain  what  Paul  thought, 
and  also  comparatively  easy  to  discover  to  what  extent  there 
was  a  development  in  his  own  conceptions  of  Christianity.  But 
the  gain  here  is  more  than  offset  by  the  difficulty  experienced  in 
attempting  to  ascertain  just  how  Paul's  doctrine  was  related  to 
what  Jesus  actually  taught  and  to  what  the  primitive  Jewish- 
Christian  Church  had  formulated  as  the  essential  points  in 
Christianity. 

To  answer  these  questions  at  once  involves  New  Testament 
Theology  in  the  complicated  problems  of  the  literary  criticism 
of  the  Gospels  and  Acts  on  the  one  hand ;  and,  on  the  other,  in 
the  larger  problem  of  the  history  of  the  Apostolic  Age. 

For  New  Testament  Theology  the  results  of  the  literary  criti- 
cism of  the  Gospels  are  of  vital  importance.  These  enable  us 
to  ascertain  what  parts  of  the  material  in  the  Gospels  represent 
substantially  what  Jesus  taught.  This  being  given,  we  are  in  a 
position  to  consider  the  significance  of  Jesus'  teaching  and 
claims  in  their  relation  to  current  Jewish  opinion  and  to  ideas 
found  in  the  earlier  Old  Testament  and  Apocalyptic  literature. 

In  this  way  we  seek  to  arrive  at  the  real  significance  of  Jesus' 
teaching  (and  person)  as  the  foundation  of  New  Testament 
Theology.  A  foundation  being  thus  secured,  it  then  becomes 
necessary  to  correlate  the  doctrinal  development  of  the  primi- 
tive Jewish-Christian  Church  with  the  teachings  of  Jesus  as 
their  starting-point,  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other  with 


134  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

the  later  parallel  (and,  in  part,  conflicting)  development  of  the 
Pauline  or  Gentile-Christian  type  of  doctrine.  Essentially  the 
same  task  is  involved  in  dealing  with  Paul's  teaching  and  work. 
Finally,  it  is  necessary  properly  to  correlate  with  these  main 
factors  of  the  New  Testament  age,  those  other  more  subordinate 
types  represented  in  the  post-Pauline  material  of  the  New 
Testament  (in  the  Gospels,  what  belongs  to  the  evangelists 
themselves  or  to  their  own  immediate  environment;  in  Acts, 
what  belongs  to  Luke  himself  or  to  the  type  of  Christianity 
represented  by  him;  and  the  type  of  doctrine  exhibited  in  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  in  the  late  Catholic  Epistles,  and  in  the 
Apocalypse). 

In  passing  now  to  consider  briefly  what  has  been  done  during 
the  past  seventy-five  years  in  this  important  field  of  Biblical 
study  it  is  necessary  to  realize  that  a  large  share  of  the  work 
has  not  been  specifically  labeled  New  Testament  Theology. 
Various  Lives  of  Christ  or  of  Paul,  the  numerous  works  on  the 
Apostolic  Age  (Zeitalter)  or  on  the  New  Testament  Times, 
works  devoted  to  the  exposition  of  the  Jewish  theological  ideas 
of  the  New  Testament  era,  and  treatises  on  specific  theological 
themes,  such  as  the  Atonement  or  Christology,  as  well  as  those 
devoted  to  some  particular  phase  of  New  Testament  doctrine, 
have  all  made  valuable  contributions  to  New  Testament  The- 
ology. This  is  particularly  true  of  the  histories  of  the  Apostolic 
Age.  Here  we  must  be  content  with  a  brief  mention  of  those 
works  which  have  contributed  most  to  an  understanding  of  the 
real  nature  of  our  science  and  have  been  most  influential  in 
determining  its  true  method. 

In  1832,  four  years  before  the  date  of  Vatke's  Biblische  The- 
ologie  (of  which  the  New  Testament  part  never  appeared), 
A.  Neander  published  his  great  work,  Geschichte  der  Pflanzung 
und  Leitung  der  christ.  Kirche  durch  die  Aposiel  (5th  ed., 
1862,  Eng.  trans.,  1865).  In  this  work  different  types  of  doc- 
trine were  recognized  as  set  forth  in  the  New  Testament,  and 
the  reason  assigned  for  them  was  the  differences  between  the 
leading  Apostles  in  respect  to  their  individual  points  of  view, 
temperaments,  abilities,  etc.  While  there  was  thus  a  just  (and 
at  that  time  much  needed)  emphasis  on  the  part  played  in  the 
development  of  Apostolic  Christianity  by  forceful  individuals, 
many  other  important  factors  in  the  situation  were  overlooked. 


THEOLOGY    OF   THE    NEW  TESTAMENT     135 

Still,  Neander's  work  was  of  immense  influence  in  fixing  atten- 
tion upon  the  vital  character  of  New  Testament  teaching,  and 
in  checking  the  tendency  to  explain  everything  as  due  to  gen- 
eral historical  conditions. 

The  emphasis  was  soon  shifted,  by  the  writers  of  the  Tubingen 
school  founded  by  F.  C.  Baur,  from  the  individuals  (Peter 
James,  Paul,  John,  etc.),  who  took  a  leading  part  in  the  New 
Testament  movement,  to  the  various  progressive  stages  in  its 
development.  According  to  this  school,  the  doctrinal  develop- 
ment which  lay  behind  our  New  Testament  literature  followed 
the  correct  Hegelian  programme.  Beginning  with  the  teaching 
of  Jesus  (as  seen  in  Matthew),  there  was  next  developed  a  Jewish 
type  of  Christianity  (that  of  the  primitive  Apostles),  to  which  as 
its  antithesis  the  doctrines  of  Paul  (as  seen  in  Galatians,  Romans, 
I  and  II  Corinthians)  and  of  the  Apocalypse  were  distinctly 
opposed.  Finally,  a  reconciliation  (synthesis)  was  brought 
about,  at  first  less  thoroughly  (as  seen  in  Hebrews,  Ephesians, 
Colossians,  Philippians,  James,  I  Peter,  the  Synoptics),  and 
later  more  thoroughly  (as  seen  in  the  Pastorals  and  John  (Gos- 
pel and  Epistles).  Whatever  else  may  be  said  of  the  Tubingen 
view,  which  was  first  set  forth  in  completeness  by  A.  Schwegler 
{Das  nachapostolische  Zeitalter  in  den  Hauptmoinenten  seiner 
Entwickelting,  1846),  and  later  by  Baur  himself  and  others,  the 
discussions  to  which  it  gave  rise  led  to  a  most  profound  and 
searching  investigation  of  the  New  Testament  literature.  Baur's 
own  lectures  on  New  Testament  Theology  were  not  published 
until  1864,  after  his  death.  Independently  of  Baur,  essentially 
the  same  scheme  of  the  development  of  New  Testament  The- 
ology had  been  advocated  by  E.  Reuss  in  his  Histoire  de  la  theo- 
logie  chretienne  au  siecle  apostolique,  1852.  Other  able  works 
representing  the  same  point  of  view  were  those  of  A.  Hilgenfeld, 
Das  Urchrisienihum,  1854,  and  of  Carl  Holsten,  Das  Evange- 
lium  des  Paulus  und  Petrus  (1868),  which  was  later  followed 
by  his  Das  Evangeliums  des  Paulus  (1880).  The  Theologie 
des  N.  T.  of  Immer  (1877)  was  also  based  on  the  Tubingen 
hypothesis. 

In  1857  A.  Ritschl,  hitherto  a  follower  of  Baur,  in  his  famous 
work  Die  Entstehung  der  altkatholischen  Kirche  (2d  ed.), 
pointed  out  the  serious  defects  of  the  Tubingen  position  and 
became  the  leader  of  a  new  departure  in  theological  study. 


136  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

Wendt's  Die  Lehre  Jesu  (1886-90,  Eng.  trans.)  and  Harnack's 
Das  Wesen  des  Christenthums  (1900,  Eng.  trans,  with  title 
What  is  Christianity  ?)  are  noteworthy  examples  of  typical  con- 
tributions of  the  Ritschlian  school  to  New  Testament  Theology. 

Independently  of  adherence  to  any  "school,"  standard  general 
works  on  the  Theology  of  the  New  Testament  have  been  written 
by  B.  Weiss,  Lehrbuch  der  biblischen  Theologie  des  Neuen  Testa- 
ments, 6th  ed.,  1895,  Eng.  trans.,  1898;  by  W.  Beyschlag, 
Neutestamentliche  Theologie,  2d  ed.,  1896,  Eng.  trans.,  1899; 
and  by  H.  J.  Holtzmann,  Lehrbuch  der  Neutestamentlichen 
Theologie,  1897.  Weiss  marks  out  five  main  phases  in  the 
development  of  New  Testament  doctrine:  (i)  the  teaching  of 
Jesus  according  to  the  oldest  tradition;  (2)  the  Primitive- 
Apostolic  Lehrtropus,  before  Paul;  (3)  Paulinism  (subdivided 
into  four  successive  stages  of  formulation) ;  (4)  the  Primitive- 
Apostolic  Lehrtropus,  after  Paul;  (5)  the  Johannine  Theology. 
Weiss's  work  is  marked  by  great  ability,  and  by  marvelous 
exegetical  skill,  but  is  somewhat  faulty  in  its  method  of  presen- 
tation, being  too  formal  and  statistical,  while  the  living  char- 
acter of  the  movement  is  lost  sight  of. 

Beyschlag  attempted  to  do  what  Weiss  failed  to  accomplish, 
and  has  given  us  a  very  interesting,  readable  treatise,  full  of 
warm  appreciation  of  the  spiritual  and  ethical  teachings  of  the 
New  Testament.  Beyschlag's  subdivisions  of  the  subject  are 
essentially  those  of  Weiss. 

In  Holtzmann's  large  work  we  have  the  ablest  and,  in  so  far 
as  method  is  concerned,  by  far  the  most  scientific  presentation 
of  the  whole  subject  of  New  Testament  Theology  yet  published. 
The  first  main  division  treats  of  Jesus  und  die  Evangelisten,  in 
which  is  considered :  first,  The  religious  and  ethical  Gedanken- 
welt  of  contemporary  Judaism ;  second,  The  message  of  Jesus ; 
and  third,  The  theological  problem  of  primitive  Christianity. 
Here  the  author  tries  to  do  justice  to  this  complicated  and  ex- 
ceedingly difficult  element  of  the  development  of  Christianity 
in  the  Apostolic  Age.  The  second  main  division  treats  of 
Paulus  und  die  nachapostolische  Literatur  under  three  headings : 
first,  Paulinism;  second,  Deutero- Paulinism;  and  third.  The 
Johannine  Theology. 

Holtzmann's  method  is  more  severely  critical  than  is  that  of 
Weiss  or  Beyschlag.     His  tendency  is  too  strongly  toward  a 


THEOLOGY    OF   THE    NEW   TESTAMENT     137 

late  dating  of  much  of  the  New  Testament  literature,  and  he 
fails  to  do  full  justice  to  the  deeper  spiritual  elements  of  his 
problem.  Nevertheless,  his  work  is  the  most  masterly  treat- 
ment of  the  subject  yet  written. 

At  the  present  time,  the  conditions  prevailing  in  the  field  of 
New  Testament  Theology  appear  to  be  but  one  step  removed 
from  chaos.  To  say  nothing  of  the  ever  new  problem  of  the 
Fourth  Gospel  and  its  reliability  as  a  source  of  information  as  to 
what  Jesus  taught,  the  whole  Synoptic  problem  is  being  opened 
anew  and  the  historical  accuracy  of  the  common  tradition  con- 
tained in  the  Synoptists  is  being  challenged  at  every  point.  The 
subtle  and  insidious  challenge  of  Jesus'  own  authority  which  is 
making  itself  heard  in  various  ways  does  not  immediately  con- 
cern New  Testament  Theology  itself,  although  it  does  concern 
the  value  of  its  conclusions.  About  the  historical  value  of 
Acts  a  fierce  debate  is  waging  which  is  fraught  with  vital  con- 
sequences for  our  science.  Until  these  debates  are  brought  to 
some  sort  of  a  conclusion  and  some  agreement  as  to  the  limits 
and  value  of  our  sources  prevails,  it  will  be  idle  to  attempt  to 
set  forth  conclusions  as  to  what  Jesus  taught  and  thought  of 
Himself  and  the  Kingdom  which  may  be  expected  to  meet  with 
general  acceptance.  We  are  having  as  many  varieties  of  repre- 
sentations of  Jesus  and  His  doctrine  as  there  are  writers  who 
undertake  to  instruct  us,  from  the  purely  human  and  very 
much  limited  Prophet  of  Nazareth  (of  N.  Schmidt)  to  the 
divine  Christ  (of  Denney  and  Sanday)  —  all  in  the  name  of  a 
strictly  scientific  use  of  the  New  Testament  material.  What 
shall  be  said  of  the  views  of  Bousset,  Wernle,  Wrede,  Jiilicher, 
about  Jesus,  or  Jesus  and  Paul?  They  are  scientific  theo- 
logians all,  but  they  seem  to  disagree  remarkably  as  to  what  is 
scientific  truth. 

But  this  struggle  is  necessary  —  it  is  inevitable.  And  one 
need  not  be  pessimistic.  The  closer  all  this  study  brings  us  to 
the  real  facts,  to  what  Jesus  was  —  and  is  —  to  what  Paul 
actually  thought  and  how  he  came  to  think  it,  and  to  all  the 
other  facts  of  the  first  age  of  the  Church,  the  greater  will  be  the 
gain  and,  under  God,  that  which  is  true  will  in  the  end  prevail. 


IV.   CHURCH    HISTORY 


HISTORY   OF   THE   EARLY   CHURCH 

Professor  Williston  Walker,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 
Divinity  School  of  Yale  University 

In  no  field  of  Church  History  has  more  patient  labor  been 
expended,  and  in  none  have  more  substantial  advances  in  knowl- 
edge been  achieved,  during  the  last  three  quarters  of  a  century, 
than  in  that  of  the  development  of  Christianity  from  the  Apos- 
tolic age  to  its  acceptance  by  Constantine.  The  work  involved 
first  of  all  a  minute  and  painstaking  examination  and  sifting  of 
the  sources,  that  a  substantial  basis  for  an  accurate  understand- 
ing of  this  important  epoch  might  be  attained.  Not  a  little 
of  this  enormous  task  seemed  to  have  been  achieved  three 
quarters  of  a  century  ago.  The  labors  of  scholars  since  the 
revival  of  learning  in  the  fifteenth  century  had  not  been  without 
their  abundant  fruitage.  Most  of  the  important  writings  of  the 
Fathers,  Apologists,  and  Theologians  of  the  Early  Church 
were  then  well  known  to  students  of  the  period.  But,  as  com- 
pared with  the  present,  their  genuineness  was  relatively  untested, 
the  dates  of  many  of  them  relatively  uncertain,  and  the  author- 
ship of  a  considerable  portion  of  them  inaccurately  determined 
or  unknown.  The  period  under  review  has  seen  the  whole  of 
this  literature  investigated  with  the  minutest  care.  Though 
many  perplexing  questions  still  remain,  the  writings  of  that  age 
are  now  defined,  dated,  and  made  accessible  in  a  fashion  that 
renders  a  competent  knowledge  of  the  Church  of  those  early 
centuries  possible  in  far  greater  measure  than  three  quarters 
of  a  century  ago. 

A  single  illustration  may  be  cited  as  typical  of  this  advance 
in  knowledge.  The  epistles  of  Ignatius  of  Antioch  are  among 
our  most  important  sources  of  acquaintance  with  the  institu- 
tions, the  theology,  and  the  type  of  piety  of  the  opening  years 

138 


HISTORY    OF   THE    EARLY   CHURCH         139 

of  the  second  century.  Long  known,  their  genuineness  had  long 
been  a  subject  of  heated  controversy.  They  have  been  pre- 
served in  an  extended  and  a  shorter  form  in  Greek,  and  perplex- 
ity was  added  by  the  discovery,  in  1839  and  1843,  ^^  ^  Y^^  briefer 
Syriac  translation  of  three  of  the  most  important.  Were  they 
genuine  in  any  form;  and,  if  genuine  at  all,  in  which?  The 
best  judges  were  divided.  But,  thanks  chiefly  to  the  admirable 
work  of  Zahn,  Lightfoot,  and  von  der  Goltz,  though  a  few  dis- 
senting voices  of  relatively  slight  significance  are  still  to  be  heard, 
the  scholarly  world  has  substantially  accepted  seven  of  these 
letters  as  authentic  in  their  shorter  Greek  form.  No  treatment 
of  the  Early  Church  can  now  ignore  them,  and  the  value  of  the 
light  that  they  shed  on  the  growth  of  ecclesiastical  organiza- 
tion is  inestimable.  What  has  thus  been  done  in  testing  and 
assuring  the  foundations  of  our  knowledge  in  this  particular 
case  is  but  an  example  of  the  achievements  of  the  last  three 
quarters  of  a  century  in  regard  to  many  others  of  the  sources  of 
our  acquaintance  with  the  Early  Church. 

The  epoch  under  consideration  has  had  no  little  significance, 
also,  in  the 'discovery  of  fresh  sources.  The  main  monuments 
of  the  Early  Church  have  long  been  known,  it  is  true;  but  the 
recovery  of  such  a  treatise  as  the  so-called  Teaching  of  the  Twelve 
Apostles,  in  1883,  by  Bryennios,  has  shed  light  of  prime  value 
on  a  region  where  all  before  was  darkness,  that  of  the  transition 
from  the  leadership  of  the  "spirit-filled"  men,  the  traveling 
apostles,  the  prophets  and  teachers  so  familiar  in  New  Testa- 
ment writings,  to  the  more  local  and  prosaic  elected  or  appointed 
officers  of  the  Church.  Its  evidence  as  to  the  mode  and  subjects 
of  baptism  is  no  less  clear  and  scarcely  less  important.  While 
the  Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apostles  still  remains  by  far  the  most 
valuable  recovery  of  ancient  Christian  literature  that  the  last 
three  quarters  of  a  century  has  witnessed,  it  has  not  been  alone. 
Such  a  reconstruction  as  that  of  Tatian's  Diatessaron  by  Zahn, 
is  not  merely  of  worth  in  itself,  but  is  of  high  significance  for 
the  light  which  it  throws  on  the  methods  by  which  documents 
were  edited  in  that  age,  and  even  on  the  processes  by  which  our 
Gospels  assumed  their  present  form.  The  letter  of  Clement 
to  the  Corinthians  has  long  been  known,  but  its  complete  text 
was  recovered  only  so  recently  as  1875.  Our  acquaintance 
with  the  greater  part  of  the  writings  of  Hippolytus,  and  hence 


I40  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

any  true  estimate  of  his  significance  and  of  the  extensive  informa- 
tion that  he  gives  as  to  ancient  parties  and  heresies,  dates  only 
from  1842;  while  as  recently  as  1907  a  work  of  Irenaeus  was 
recovered,  the  Treatise  on  the  Apostolic  Preaching,  which  un- 
fortunately, however,  adds  but  little  to  what  was  already  known 
of  this  eminent  theologian  of  the  last  quarter  of  the  second 
century.  The  sands  of  Egypt  have  yielded  not  only  fragments 
of  uncanonical  gospels  which  reveal  the  evangels  in  circulation 
in  some  sections  of  the  Early  Church,  but  seem  to  place  us  in 
the  very  presence  of  the  persecutions  by  the  recovery  of  examples 
of  libelli,  by  which  those  who  would  avoid  them  obtained  cer- 
tificates of  their  immunity  from  the  heathen  authorities.  The 
catacombs  of  Rome  have  been  made  to  yield  their  contribution 
to  our  knowledge  of  Christian  hope  and  practice.  Archaeology 
and  the  minute  examination  of  literature  have  made  possible 
in  recent  years,  as  never  before,  an  estimate  of  the  territorial 
growth  of  Christianity  in  the  age  under  review,  such  as  is  at- 
tempted with  success  by  Harnack  in  his  Mission  und  Ausbreitung 
des  Christentums.  The  rapidly  increasing  knowledge  of  Roman 
social,  political,  and  religious  institutions,  in  which  Mommsen, 
Marquardt,  Friedlander,  Ramsay,  and  Dill,  to  mention  no  others, 
have  been  fruitful  laborers,  has  immensely  enlarged  our  acquaint- 
ance with  the  world  in  which  the  Early  Church  made  itself 
felt,  and  by  which,  in  turn,  it  was  influenced.  What  it  assimi- 
lated from  that  world  in  philosophic  interpretation  of  Christian 
truth,  in  modification  and  elaboration  of  Christian  ritual,  in 
conceptions  of  sacrifice,  in  valuations  of  asceticism,  in  reverence 
for  the  saints  and  martyrs  who  took  the  places  in  popular  regard 
of  the  older  heroes  and  the  universally  reverenced  local  divinities, 
is  now  understood  as  never  before.  The  precise  way  in  which 
Judaism,  especially  of  the  dispersion,  prepared  the  path  for 
Christianity,  is  now  far  better  comprehended.  So,  too,  the  activi- 
ties of  the  Early  Church,  its  mutual  helpfulness,  its  care  for 
the  widows  and  the  fatherless,  its  intercommunication  between 
congregation  and  congregation,  are  far  better  understood. 
Thanks  to  the  work  of  Neander,  Baur,  Ritschl,  Zahn,  Lightfoot, 
Hatch,  Renan,  Reville,  Harnack,  Loofs,  von  Dobschiitz,  and 
others  of  a  most  honorable  company  of  scholars,  the  period  has 
been  examined  with  the  most  painstaking  minuteness  and  with 
a  resultant  increase  in  our  acquaintance  with  its  character. 


HISTORY   OF   THE   EARLY   CHURCH         141 

It  is  now  like  a  country  well  mapped  ;  and  though  much  re- 
mains to  be  done,  the  student  feels  himself  far  more  surely  at 
home  in  it  than  was  possible  three  quarters  of  a  century  ago. 

Yet,  significant  as  has  been  the  epoch  under  review  in  the  in- 
vestigation of  the  details  of  the  environment,  the  contests,  the 
institutions,  the  literature,  and  the  theology  of  the  Early  Church, 
its  greatest  contribution  has  been  to  the  broad  interpretation  of 
the  development  and  significance  of  the  Church  itself,  and  of 
the  changes  which  it  underwent  in  that  age.  Seventy-five 
years  ago  the  most  modern  and  valuable  treatise  on  Church 
History  available  for  students  in  this  region  was  Mosheim's 
Institutes,  originally  published  by  that  eminent  German  scholar 
in  Latin  dress  between  1726  and  1755,  and  freshly  translated  with 
able  annotations  by  Professor  James  Murdock,  by  whom  the 
work  was  issued  in  1832.  Gieseler  and  Neander  had  begun  their 
work  when  this  translation  was  printed,  but  though  Murdock 
was  acquainted  with  the  studies  of  the  last-named  investigator, 
he  expressed  the  opinion,  after  "careful  examination,"  that 
"Alosheim's  history  ...  is  the  best  adapted  to  the  wants  of 
this  country,  and  the  most  likely  to  meet  general  approbation 
among  the  American  clergy." 

No  one  who  examines  Mosheim's  work  will  deny  his  pre- 
eminent gifts,  his  desire  to  be  impartial  and  accurate,  or  his 
right  to  the  title  of  the  "father  of  modern  Church  History." 
But  to  the  student  of  the  present  day  Mosheim  seems  not  merely 
frigid,  but  curiously  archaic.  In  his  revolt  against  the  compo- 
sition of  Church  History  to  further  polemic  ends,  which  had  been 
the  fault  of  writers  up  to  his  time,  he  treats  the  theme  in  a  singu- 
larly disengaged  and  remote  manner.  It  seems  scarcely  vital. 
Its  great  personalities  appeal  little  to  his  historic  imagination, 
and  its  doctrinal  controversies  have  scarcely  more  than  an  anti- 
quarian interest.  Though  he  declares  that  only  he  can  be  a 
good  historian  who  "can  trace  events  to  their  causes"  and  "tell 
us,  not  only  what  happened,  but  likewise  how  and  why,"  he  has 
little  real  conception  of  development.  Events  happen  largely 
in  an  arbitrary  way.  He  does,  indeed,  see  that  earlier  philoso- 
phies, of  which  so  far  as  they  were  not  Greek  but  Oriental  he 
has  a  very  obscure  notion,  had  much  to  do  with  the  rise  of 
heresies,  especially  with  that  of  Gnosticism;  but  his  general 
thought  is  that  the  whole  epoch  of  the  Early  Church  is  one  of 


142  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

rapid  corruption,  due  to  the  sins  and  selfishness  of  men.  Speak- 
ing of  ceremonies,  he  declares  "the  Christian  bishops  multipHed 
sacred  rites  for  the  sake  of  rendering  the  Jews  and  pagans 
more  friendly  to  them,"  and  this  superficiality  of  judgment,  in 
spite  of  Mosheim's  wealth  of  learning  and  keen  critical  skill, 
is  characteristic.  The  story  of  the  Early  Church  in  his  hands 
is  that  of  a  largely  unaccountable,  or  very  inadequately  explained, 
degeneracy  from  its  original  comparative  purity. 

It  was  a  decided  advance  over  Mosheim,  when  Ludwig 
Gieseler,  greatly  improving  on  the  method  of  Tillemont,  pub- 
lished his  Lehrbuch  der  Kirchengeschichte  between  1824  and  1853. 
His  own  comments  are  brief,  unimpassioned,  and  objective  in 
the  extreme.  He  was  convinced,  however,  that  an  age  can  be 
understood  only  from  itself,  and  that  men  and  parties  can  be 
rightly  estimated  only  by  their  own  words,  their  environment, 
and  the  conceptions  of  the  epoch  in  which  they  move.  The 
greater  part,  therefore,  of  almost  every  page  of  his  volumes 
was  filled  with  excerpts  from  the  authors  and  leaders  discussed, 
and  from  the  writings  of  their  contemporaries,  chosen  with  re- 
markable skill  and  impartiality,  and  presenting  to  the  student, 
as  far  as  possible  within  the  compass  of  a  relatively  brief  work, 
a  contemporary  picture  of  the  period  under  consideration. 

Opposed  to  Gieseler' s  frigid  objectivity  of  comment,  but  no 
less  effective  in  giving  a  new  impulse  to  Church  History,  was  the 
work  of  August  Neander.  A  series  of  monographs  of  high 
value,  begun  in  181 2,  prepared  the  way  for  his  great  Allgemeine 
Geschichte  der  christlichen  Religion  und  Kirche,  issued  in  succes- 
sive volumes  between  1825  and  1852.  To  Neander,  all  Christian 
history  has  a  religious  value.  It  is  the  divine  life  of  Christ  pene- 
trating and  transforming  humanity.  He  has,  therefore,  a  real,  if 
imperfect,  theory  of  development.  He  emphasized,  as  his  prede- 
cessors had  not  done,  the  unfolding  of  the  Christian  life,  saw 
its  manifestation  in  the  biographies  of  the  leaders  of  the  Church, 
and  could  even  view  parties  and  divisions  as  in  a  large  measure 
illustrative  of  its  vital  many-sidedness.  In  our  own  country, 
Neander's  influence  was  most  usefully  propagated  by  his  pupil, 
Philip  Schaff,  who  was  briefly  connected  with  Hartford  Theo- 
logical Seminary.  His  History  of  the  Apostolic  Church,  in  1853, 
and  his  History  of  the  Christian  Church,  in  1857,  were  but  the 
earlier  of  works   which   put   American   historical   scholarship 


HISTORY    OF   THE    EARLY   CHURCH         143 

permanently  into  Schaff's  debt;  and  he  did  much  by  his  learning, 
charity,  and  religious  earnestness  to  foster  a  truer  comprehension 
of  the  Early  Church  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic. 

Yet  the  reader  of  Neander  and  of  Schaff  is  impressed  with  the 
absence  in  both  of  any  fundamental  conception  of  the  continuity 
of  growth  in  the  Early  Church.  That  growth  is  asserted;  but 
the  Apostolic  Age  is  placed  on  an  ideal  height,  from  which  the 
succeeding  period  is  viewed  as  a  great  declension.  The  transi- 
tion from  one  to  the  other  is  regarded  as  abrupt,  and  the  great 
variety  of  forms  in  which  Christianity  clothed  itself,  even  in  the 
latter  half  of  the  first  century,  is  inadequately  recognized.  As 
Schaff  expressed  it:  "The  hand  of  God  has  drawn  a  bold  line 
of  demarcation  between  the  century  of  miracles  and  the  succeed- 
ing ages,  to  show,  by  the  abrupt  transition  and  the  striking 
contrast,  the  difference  between  the  work  of  God  and  the 
work  of  man.  .  .  .  There  is  no  other  transition  in  history  so 
radical  and  sudden,  yet  so  silent  and  secret." 

Before  Schaff  wrote  these  words,  however,  a  man  with  whom 
Schaff  had  little  sympathy,  but  whose  abiHties  he  fully  acknowl- 
edged, Ferdinand  Christian  Baur,  was  pointing  the  way  toward 
a  more  fundamental  conception  of  a  continuous  and  united 
development  in  the  history  of  the  Early  Church,  which  attempted 
at  least  to  explain  and  coordinate  in  one  onflowing  stream  the 
growth  of  its  various  parties,  and  to  find  a  principle  of  unity 
where  even  Neander  and  Schaff  had  seen  such  abrupt  transition. 
The  views  indicated  in  earlier  works  were  set  forth  in  fullness 
by  Baur  in  his  Das  Chrislentum  und  die  christliche  Kirche  der  drei 
ersten  Jahrhunderte,  of  1853.  Baur's  principle  of  development 
was  that  unfolding  of  the  spirit  according  to  the  laws  of  its  prog- 
ress which  he  derived  primarily  from  the  philosophy  of  Hegel. 
In  thesis,  antithesis,  and  synthesis  he  saw  the  conditions  of  all 
growth.  His  method  was  an  imposition  of  an  arbitrary  philo- 
sophical theory  on  the  facts  of  history  in  far  too  great  a  measure. 
He  had  little  sense  of  the  religious  values  of  the  actual  process 
of  development,  and  much  too  a  priori  a  conception  of  what  that 
devcloj)ment  must  have  been.  But  he  not  only  investigated 
many  problems  in  the  history  of  the  Early  Church  with  keen 
critical  judgment,  he  had  a  real  and  consistent  theory  of  its 
growth,  which  knit  it  into  one  orderly  process. 

From  the  school  of  Baur  came  the  scholar  who  was  to  pro- 


144  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

pound  the  view  of  the  history  of  the  Early  Church  which  has 
won  far  wider  acceptance  than  his;  which,  Uke  his,  makes  that 
history  an  orderly  process  of  development,  and  yet  explains  that 
development  in  a  much  more  simple,  natural,  and  historically 
defensible  manner.  Albrecht  Ritschl  was  primarily  a  theolo- 
gian, yet  in  the  second  edition  of  his  Entsiehung  der  altkatho- 
lischen  Kirche,  published  in  1857,  he  presented  a  conception  of 
the  growth  of  the  Early  Church  that  has  proved  the  seed-corn 
of  the  most  fruitful  modern  treatment  of  its  history.  Breaking 
with  the  theories  of  Baur,  to  which  he  had  thus  far  been  attached, 
he  denied  the  simple  fundamental  antagonism  between  Judaic 
and  Pauline  Christianity  in  which  Baur  had  seen  the  thesis  and 
antithesis  of  Christian  beginnings,  and  recognized  instead  the 
many  forms  in  which  Christianity  went  out  from  its  origin. 
The  Jewish  types  he  perceived  were  incapable  of  progress,  the 
Pauline  type  was  largely  uncomprehended  by  the  age  that  fol- 
lowed the  great  apostle.  He  emphasized,  as  never  before,  the 
existence  before  the  close  of  the  first  century  of  a  type  which  had 
drawn  its  converts  from  heathen  sources  and  which  developed 
into  the  great  Church  of  the  second  and  third  centuries.  As 
further  carried  forward,  notably  by  scholars  like  Harnack  and 
Loofs,  the  story  of  the  Early  Church  is  that  of  the  development 
of  the  simple  truths  of  primitive  Christianity,  and  of  the  life 
based  on  them,  on  the  soil  of  the  Roman  empire,  under  the  in- 
fluence of  Hellenic  culture.  Christianity  came  into  no  empty 
world ;  it  entered  a  realm  filled  with  philosophies,  social  institu- 
tions, governmental  conceptions,  and  ethical  ideals.  Such  of 
them  as  were  not  foreign  to  its  genius  it  assimilated  and  made 
its  own,  and  by  them  in  turn  was  profoundly  modified.  The 
story  of  this  gradual  process  is  the  history  of  the  development 
of  the  Early  Church. 

This  view  has  the  advantage  of  interpreting  that  story  as  an 
orderly  and  natural  development  —  a  development  similar  to 
that  which  Christianity  must  undergo  in  all  ages,  and  is  under- 
going at  present.  It  gives  a  place  for  all  parties  and  most 
varying  types  of  life,  while  emphasizing  the  underlying  unity 
of  the  general  movement.  It  makes  the  growth  of  the  Early 
Church  no  isolated  phenomenon,  but  links  it  inseparably, 
without  minimizing  or  ignoring  its  divine  elements,  with  the 
manifold  life  of  the  centuries  in  which  it  had  its  place.     As  a 


HISTORY    OF   THE    EARLY   CHURCH         145 

result  of  the  studies  of  the  last  three  quarters  of  a  century  we 
not  merely  understand  the  history  of  the  Early  Church  vastly 
better  in  its  details,  but  see,  much  more  clearly  than  was  then 
perceived,  its  place  in  that  divine  ordering  which  embraces  all 
human  development. 

It  has  doubtless  been  noted  that  our  sketch  has  said  nothing 
of  a  share  of  Hartford  Seminary  in  this  growth  of  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  Early  Church  in  the  last  seventy-five  years.  That 
silence  is  not  because  its  chair  of  history  has  been  inadequately 
manned.  No  recent  graduate  of  the  Seminary  can  be  without 
grateful  remembrance,  to  mention  a  single  name,  of  the  profound 
scholarship,  the  keen  insight,  and  the  earnest  Christian  conviction 
of  Dr.  Hartranft.  He  has  awakened  a  sense  of  the  importance 
of  the  history  of  the  Church,  and  a  love  for  its  study,  that  is 
bearing  fruit  in  the  life  of  many  a  former  student.  But  in  the 
development  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Early  Church  which  has 
come  during  the  last  seventy-five  years  America  as  a  whole  has 
been  a  learner  rather  than  a  leader.  May  the  next  three  quarters 
of  a  century  show  not  merely  learning  but  leadership ! 


CHRISTIAN  ARCHEOLOGY 

Rev.  William  John  Chapman,  Ph.D. 
Case  Memorial  Library,  Hartford 

The  expression  "Christian  Archaeology"  is  inseparably  con- 
nected with  the  Roman  catacombs.  The  rediscovery  of  those 
underground  cemeteries  goes  back  to  the  age  of  the  Renaissance/ 
and  yet,  perhaps,  it  is  not  generally  known  that  some  of  the  most 
remarkable  explorations  in  that  field  have  been  made  in  com- 
paratively recent  times.  We  refer,  more  especially,  to  the 
researches  of  P.  Giuseppe  Marchi,^  and  to  those  of  his  more 
famous  successor,  the  Chevalier  de  Rossi.  Seventy-five  years 
ago,  interest  in  Christian  Archaeology  had  scarcely  advanced 
beyond  the  stage  of  learned  curiosity.  The  work  of  Raoul- 
Rochette  in  1826-27,  as  also  that  of  Giuseppe  Marchi  in  the 
early  forties,  was  confined  to  matters  of  artistic  or  lapidary 
interest.  The  particular  significance  of  a  picture,  the  sa- 
credness  of  early  Christian  relics,  or  the  precise  statements  con- 
tained in  an  inscription,  satisfied  all  inquiries.  As  Lanciani 
has  expressed  it,  "the  topographical  importance  of  discoveries 
was  not  appreciated."  ^ 

With  de  Rossi  a  new  era  begins.*  "The  method  by  which 
he  worked,"  says  Frothingham,  "was  even  more  important 
than  the  actual  work  he  did."  His  task  was  rendered  doubly 
difficult  by  the  methodless  curiosity  of  his  earlier  precursors, 
for  the  wholesale  removal  of  inscriptions  from  the  catacombs 
made  the  work  of  systematic  investigation  exceedingly  perplex- 
ing.    But,  in  spite  of  the  difficulties  that  beset  him,  de  Rossi 

'  Till  the  last  century  the  great  work  on  the  Roman  catacombs  was  the  Roma 
sotterarea  of  Antonio  Bosio,  published  posthumously  in  1632. 

^  Padre  Marchi  wrote  a  treatise  on  the  monuments  of  primitive  Christian 
art:  Monumenti  delle  arte  crisiiane  primitive  nella  metropoli  del  cristianesimo, 
Rome,  1844. 

^  Lanciani,  Pagan  and  Christian  Rome,  pp.  329-330. 

*  Giovanni  Battista  de  Rossi,  Inscript.  christ.  urb.  Romce  (Rome,  1861); 
Roma  sotteranea  (Rome,  1864-77);  biographical  sketch  by  Professor  Frothing- 
ham, Am.  Jour.  Arch.,  Oct.-Dec,  1894,  pp.  549-552. 

146 


CHRISTIAN   ARCKLEOLOGY  147 

worked  out  the  problem  and  applied  the  necessary  scientific 
method  with  wonderful  success.  Among  the  noteworthy  dis- 
coveries of  de  Rossi  were  the  finding  of  the  Papal  Crypt  in 
1854,  the  rediscovery  of  the  Tombs  of  the  Flavians  (1865),  and 
the  finding  of  the  Crypt  of  the  Acilii  Glabriones  in  1888.  Each 
of  these  possesses  an  interest  of  its  own. 

The  Papal  Crypt,  so  called  because  it  was  the  burial-place 
of  the  Roman  bishops  between  Zephyrinus  (a.d.  218)  and 
Melchiades  (a.d.  311-314),  carries  us  back  to  the  momentous 
epoch  of  the  Decian  and  Diocletian  persecutions.  While  ex- 
cavating the  catacomb  of  San  Callisto,  De  Rossi  surmised 
from  the  multitude  of  graffiti  —  rough  inscriptions  carved  by 
pilgrims  —  that  he  was  on  the  threshold  of  a  much  venerated 
sanctuary  of  the  Early  Church.  The  vault,  when  discovered, 
was  in  a  ruinous  state,  but  upon  the  partly  shattered  gravestones 
the  names  of  Anteros,  Lucius,  and  Eutychianus,  bishops,  and 
of  Fabianus,  bishop  and  martyr,  might  still  be  traced.'  By 
those  epitaphs  we  are  reminded  of  the  death-agony  of  the  re- 
ligion of  Numa,  and  of  the  brief  and  stormy  supremacy  of  the 
solar  cultus  (Mithraism)  into  which  its  imperial  prerogatives 
were  merged.  The  final  triumph  of  Christianity  came  im- 
mediately after  the  severest  persecution.  "In  296,  Bishop 
Gaius,  one  of  the  last  victims  of  Diocletian's  persecution,  was 
interred  by  the  side  of  his  predecessors  in  the  crypt;  in  313, 
only  seventeen  years  later,  Sylvester  took  possession  of  the 
Lateran  Palace,  which  had  been  offered  to  him  by  Constantine. 
Such  is  the  history  of  Rome;  such  are  the  events  which  the  study 
of  her  ruins  recalls  to  our  memory."  ^ 

The  Crypt  of  the  Flavians,  rediscovered  in  1865  and  more  fully 
explored  in  1873,  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  monuments  of 
early  Christian  antiquity,^  illustrating,  as  it  does,  what  Professor 
Orr  has  called  the  neglected  factors  in  the  progress  of  Chris- 

*  H.  D.  M.  Spence,  Early  Christianity  and  Paganism  (N.  Y.  1901),  pp. 
302-303. 

'  Lanciani,  Pagan  and  Christian  Rome,  pp.  220-221. 

'  "No  pagan  mausolea  of  the  Via  Appia  or  the  Via  Latina  show  a  greater 
sense  of  security  or  are  placed  more  conspicuously  than  this  early  Christian 
tomb.  The  frescoes  on  the  ceiling  of  the  vestibule,  representing  Biblical  scenes, 
such  as  Daniel  in  the  lions'  den,  the  history  of  Jonah,  etc.,  were  exposed  to  day- 
light, and  through  the  open  door  could  be  seen  by  the  passer.  No  precaution  was 
taken  to  conceal  these  symbolic  scenes  from  profane  or  hostile  eyes"  (Lanciani, 
PP-  315-316). 


148  RECENT  CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

tianity,  and  more  especially  the  influence  of  the  Gospel  upon 
the  higher  ranks  of  Roman  Society.  A  passage  in  Xiphilinus, 
the  epitomizer  of  Dion  Cassius,  tells  us  that  Flavius  Clemens, 
together  with  his  wife  Domitilla,  was  accused  of  "atheism"  and 
"going  astray  after  the  customs  of  the  Jews"  and  that  Clement 
was  beheaded  and  Domitilla  banished.  Did  they  suffer  for 
the  name  of  Christ  Jesus?  The  ambiguity  of  the  charge  is  at 
least  suggestive,  and  scholars  have  both  affirmed  and  denied 
the  question.  "It  has  been  reserved,"  says  Dr.  Orr,  "for 
catacomb  exploration  to  clear  up  the  ambiguity  attaching  to 
this  case  also,  and  to  establish  beyond  a  doubt  the  Christianity 
of  the  illustrious  pair.  ...  It  will  not  be  denied  that  these  facts 
furnish  startling  illustration  of  the  extent  to  which,  by  the  close 
of  the  first  century,  Christianity  had  pushed  its  conquests. 
Next  to  the  Emperor  himself,  these  two  personages  held  the 
highest  rank  in  the  empire;  their  two  sons  had  even  been 
designated  by  Domitian  as  his  heirs  to  the  purple.  It  seemed 
almost  as  if,  ere  the  last  Apostle  had  quitted  the  scene  of  his 
labors,  Christianity  were  about  to  mount  the  seat  of  empire."  * 

Equally  worthy  of  note  was  the  discovery,  in  1888,  of  the 
Crypt  of  the  Acilii  Glabriones.  This  tomb  is  situated  in  the 
cemetery  of  St.  Priscilla,  immediately  adjoining  the  Basilica 
of  St.  Sylvester.  Here,  too,  we  are  reminded  of  a  Roman  noble 
who  was  Consul  in  a.d.  91,  and  who  suffered  for  the  same  offense 
as  Flavius  Clemens.  "The  charges  against  him,"  writes  Canon 
Brownlow,  "were  the  contradictory  ones  of  atheism  and  being 
addicted  to  Jewish  practices.  Tillemont  contended  that  he 
was  a  pagan,  while  Gibbon  maintained  that  these  charges  could 
only  have  been  made  against  a  Christian.  Now  that  the  Chris- 
tian sepulcher  of  his  family  has  come  to  light,  little  doubt  can 
remain,  and  we  may  claim  Acilius  Glabrio  as  a  Christian 
martyr."  ^ 

What  can  Archaeology  tell  us  of  the  origins  of  church  architec- 
ture? The  earliest  Christians  possessed  no  places  of  worship. 
From  this  circumstance  arose  the  fact  that  some  one  of  the 
wealthier  members  in    each  community  became  at  once  the 


^  Orr,  Neglected  Factors  in  the  Study  of  the  Early  Progress  of  Christianity, 
L,ect.  II,  "The  Extension  of  Christianity  Vertically,"  etc.,  pp.  95  ff. 

*  Brownlow,  "Recent  Discoveries  in  the  Cemetery  of  St.  Priscilla,"  Dublin 
Review,  July,  1892,  p.  loi. 


CHRISTIAN   ARCHAEOLOGY  149 

host  and  patron  of  the  infant  community/  The  Christian 
place  of  worship  did  not  originate  from  the  basilica  or  judgment- 
hall,  but  by  reversion  to  a  more  primitive  type  from  which  both 
temple  and  basilica  originally  sprang.^  The  earliest  churches 
in  Rome  are  said  to  have  grown  out  of  the  dwellings  in  which 
the  Christians  first  met.  This  venerable  tradition  was  confirmed 
by  the  discovery  of  the  remains  of  the  house  of  Pudens  in  1870.^ 
It  underlies  the  church  subsequently  known  as  that  of  St.  Puden- 
tiana.  Other  factors  no  doubt  contributed,  but,  as  J.  B. 
Stoughton  Holborn  remarks,  "on  the  whole  the  largest  influence 
may  be  assigned  to  the  private  house."  *  The  actual  course  of 
development,  at  least  in  Lanciani's  opinion,  was  as  follows: 
"The  prayer-meetings  were  held  in  the  tahlinum,  or  reception- 
room  of  the  house,  which,  as  shown  in  the  accompanying  plan, 
opened  on  the  atrium,  or  court,  and  this  was  surrounded  by  a 
portico  or  peristyle.  In  the  early  days  of  the  Gospel  the  tahli- 
num could  easily  accommodate  the  small  congregation  of  converts; 
but  as  this  increased  in  numbers  and  the  space  became  inade- 
quate, the  faithful  were  compelled  to  occupy  that  section  of  the 
portico  which  was  in  front  of  the  meeting-hall.  When  the 
congregation  became  still  larger,  there  was  no  other  way  of 
accommodating  it,  and  sheltering  it  from  rain  or  sun,  than  by 
covering  the  court  either  with  an  awning  or  a  roof.  There  is 
very  little  difference  between  this  arrangement  and  the  plan  of  a 
Christian  basilica.  The  tahlinum  becomes  an  apse;  the  court, 
roofed  over,  becomes  the  nave;  the  side  wings  of  the  peristyle 
become  the  aisles."  ^  The  oldest  parishes  in  Rome,  with  their 
places  of  worship,  bequests  to  the  Church  by  wealthy  patrons, 
certainly  go  back  to  the  middle  of  the  third  century,  and  may, 
in  some  instances,  be  much  older.  They  were  among  the 
Church  property  confiscated  in  303  and  restored  in  311  a.d. 

The  independent  type  of  church-building  seems  to  have  origi- 
nated during  the  forty  years  of  peace  following  the  toleration 
edict  of  GalHenus  in  a.d,  261.     These  were  ordinarily  single- 

'  Those  who  addicted  themselves  to  the  ministration  of  the  saints  and  who, 
in  consequence,  were  spoken  of  as  "servants"  (diakonai)  of  the  Church,  were, 
in  the  majority  of  instances,  wealthier  brethren  who  in  rendering  this  service 
followed  the  words  of  our  Lord  (Mark,  10:44  f-;  John,  13:12-17). 

^  Barrows,  The  Isles  and  Shrines  0/  Greece,  p.  276. 

'  Lanciani,  Pagan  and  Christian  Rome,  p.  114. 

*  Hastings,  Encyclopadia  of  Religion  and  Ethics,  vol.  i,  p.  697. 

*  Lanciani,  Pagan  and  Christian  Rome,  pp.  114-115. 


I50  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

naved,  not  three-aisled,  structures.  In  the  interior  of  Syria, 
owing  to  the  desertion  of  the  country  after  the  Moslem  conquest, 
it  is  possible  to  trace  the  development  of  church  architecture 
from  the  single-naved  chapels  at  Nuriyeh,  Rbe'ah,  and  B'uda, 
up  to  the  splendid  basilica  of  Kalb  Lauzeh,  and  the  cruciform 
structure  of  the  four  combined  basilicas  of  Qal  at  Siman.  The 
scarcity  of  wood  seems  to  have  stimulated  the  development  of 
the  vaulted  stone  roof,  and  it  seems  probable  that  the  fourfold 
basilica  of  Qal' at  Siman  furnished  the  most  remarkable  early 
type  of  a  cruciform  ground-plan/ 

The  field  of  epigraphy  embraces  various  lines  of  interest, 
some  more  peculiarly  Christian,  others  relating  to  the  conflict 
between  Christianity  and  rival  faiths.  The  Chevalier  de  Rossi's 
work  in  this  department  led  up  to  his  systematic  development 
of  catacomb  exploration.  In  more  recent  decades  the  Christian 
epitaphs  of  Phrygia  have  attracted  especial  attention.^  The 
discovery  of  the  Avircius  inscription,  erected  between  190  and 
200  A.D,,  probably  by  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  anti-Montanist 
party,  was  one  of  the  surprises  of  archaeology.  It  is  remarkable 
for  its  veiled  and  symbolic  language,  as  other  epitaphs  from  the 
same  region  are  remarkable  for  their  modification  or  adaptation 
of  customary  pagan  formulas.  "The  implied  monotheism," 
says  Headlam,  "would  always  be  recognized  by  a  fellow-Chris- 
tian ;  but  there  would  not  be  anything  illegal  or  likely  to  cause 
offense.  ...  It  would  therefore  exactly  fulfill  the  purpose 
for  which  it  was  introduced;  namely,  to  distinguish  Christian 
graves  without  offending  popular  prejudice."  The  pagan  side 
of  the  conflict  is  curiously  illustrated  by  the  inscription  of 
Epitynchanus,  the  high-priest  of  Acmonia,  which  shows  how 
paganism,  in  its  strife  for  the  supremacy,  was  forced  to  copy  the 
organization,  the  methods,  and  to  some  extent,  at  least,  the  ideals, 
of  the  Christian  Church.  In  following  this  policy,  Maximinus 
(305-314)  paved  the  way  for  the  later  attempt  of  Julian  the 
Apostate.  While  treating  of  this  "borderland"  of  Christian 
Archaeology,  we  ought  to  give  their  due  meed  of  praise  to  the 

*  In  this  field  path-breaking  work  was  done  by  the  Comte  de  Vogiie,  La  Syrie 
Centrale  (Paris,  1866-77),  a^nd  more  recently  by  the  American  Archc-eological 
Expedition  to  Syria  in  1899-1900;  see  H.  C.  Butler,  Architecture  and  other  Arts, 
chapters  IV  and  XIII.  op.  cit.,  p.  184. 

^  A.  C.  Headlam,  in  Authority  and  Archceology,  edited  by  Professor  D.  G. 
Hogarth,  pp.  307-387. 


CHRISTIAN   ARCHEOLOGY  151 

scholars  who  have  labored  to  reconstruct  the  history  of  rival 
faiths  that  once  seemed  formidable.  Professor  Cumont's 
treatise  on  the  cult  of  Mithra  is  a  noteworthy  example,  of  which 
Deissmann  has  said,  "Without  the  inscriptions  this  brilliant 
work  could  not  have  been  written."  ^  Once  having  realized 
the  extent  to  which  Mithraism  was  diffused,  and  its  close  de- 
pendence upon  the  legionary  population  of  the  military  frontiers, 
one  can  understand  Professor  Cumont's  remark  that  in  the  latter 
half  of  the  third  century  "  the  Caesarship  was  almost  at  the  point 
of  transforming  itself  into  a  Khalifate."  ^  The  whole  epoch  of 
the  Diocletian  persecution  comes  out  in  a  new  and  stronger 
light. 

The  life  and  thought  of  the  common  people  in  the  ancient 
Mediterranean  world  has  received  a  new  interpretation  from 
the  study  of  the  papyri  and  ostraca.  For  many  years  the  papyri 
received  but  little  attention.  The  epoch-making  discoveries 
of  1877  in  the  Fayoum,  the  Ekhmim  fragment,  containing  a 
part  of  the  apocryphal  Gospel  of  Peter,  published  in  1892,  and 
remarkable  finds  at  Oxyrhynchus,  in  the  winter  of  1896-97,  have 
gone  far  to  change  the  attitude  of  scholars.'  But  the  chief 
significance  of  the  papyri  does  not  depend  upon  the  contents  of 
particular  documents.  It  has  to  do  mainly  with  the  character 
of  the  vernacular  Greek.  Much  that  was  once  attributed  to 
Semitic  influence,  for  example,  in  the  New  Testament,  is  now 
seen  to  belong  to  the  speech  of  the  common  people  everywhere 
in  the  Hellenistic  world.  The  results  accruing  from  papyri- 
research  may  be  considered  with  reference  to  the  philological, 
the  literary,  and  the  religious  interpretation  of  early  Christian 
writings.  On  the  philological  side  it  has  been  shown  that  the 
peculiarities  of  New  Testament  Greek  are  not  due  exclusively, 
or  even  primarily,  to  Semitic  influence.  To  cite  a  single  instance 
from  the  field  of  syntactical  problems,  the  indeclinable  adjec- 
tive "full"  (irXrjpr]';)  of  John  i:  14  undoubtedly  rests  upon 
colloquial  usage.  Again  the  papyri  illustrate  the  difference 
between  literary  and  non-literary  form.  Considered  with 
reference  to  this  standard  the  majority  of  the  New  Testament 
writings  belong  to  the  non-literary  class ;  they  are  not,  to  men- 

*  Deissmann,  New  Light  on  the  Neiu  Testament,  p.  71. 

'  Cumont,   Die  Mysterien  des  Mithra,  pref.  p.,  iv. 

^  Deissmann,  New  Light  on  the  New  Testament  (passim). 


152  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

tion  a  representative  group,  literary  epistles,  but  real  letters; 
they  deal  with  immediate  situations  and  treat  them  in  the  every- 
day style  of  the  common  Greek.  The  papyri  possess  a  still 
higher  importance  with  regard  to  the  vocabulary  of  the  New 
Testament  books.  Even  the  peculiarly  Christian  adjective, 
the  word  by  which  the  day  of  the  resurrection,  the  supper  of 
the  Lord,  and  baptism  were  designated  (KvpiaKo^,  77,  oV,  Lat. 
dominicus,  etc.),  belonged  to  the  vernacular  speech.^  The  his- 
tory of  the  word  "Lord"  is  full  of  meaning.  Thus  the  study  of 
the  papyri  meets  us  at  the  threshold  of  the  Apostolic  Age  and 
carries  us  far  beyond  the  triumph  of  Christianity  in  the  fourth 
century.  The  Ekhmim  fragment  and  the  Oxyrhynchus  Logia,^ 
while  not  adding  to  our  positive  information,  have  given  stim- 
ulus to  certain  lines  of  New  Testament  criticism.  Coming 
down  to  a  later  period,  the  discovery  of  two  libelli  (sacrifice-cer- 
tificates), particularly  that  of  Aurelius  Diogenes  Satabus,  "a  man 
of  eighty-two  years  of  age,  with  a  scar  on  his  right  eyebrow," 
brings  us  into  closest  touch  with  the  days  of  the  Decian  perse- 
cution. "We  cannot  exactly  say  that  they  add  to  our  infor- 
mation; but  the  actual  possession  of  such  a  relic  of  times  of 
persecution  enables  us  to  realize  the  situation  in  a  way  which 
no  ordinary  history  would  render  possible."  * 

*  Deissmann,  New  Light  on  the  New  Testament,  pp.  82  ff. 

'  See  Oxyrhynchus  Papyri  (ed.  Grenf ell  and  Hunt),  i,  pp.  1-3 ;    iv,  i-io. 

*  A.  C.  Headlam,  in  Authority  and  Archaology,  p.  348. 


MEDIAEVAL   CHURCH   HISTORY 

Professor  Curtis  Manning  Geer,  Ph.D. 
Hartford  Theological  Seminary 

Seventy-five  years  ago  there  were  many  people  living  who 
could  remember  the  French  Revolution.  There  was  a  still 
larger  number  of  those  who  had  been  influenced  by  that  move- 
ment. The  contempt  for  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  which 
had  been  so  loudly  proclaimed  by  Voltaire  and  his  associates 
had  by  no  means  passed  away,  and  it  was  taken  for  granted  that 
a  period  of  history  in  which  Catholicism  was  supreme  was  not 
worth  serious  study.  This  feeling  has  not  wholly  passed  even 
at  the  present  time,  although  the  last  half  century  has  witnessed 
some  change  of  attitude.  It  is  still  true  that  there  are  writers 
on  history  more  anxious  to  establish  their  own  views  than  to 
learn  the  truth,  but  on  the  whole  the  partisan  spirit  is  giving  way 
before  the  scientific.  There  is  growing  recognition  of  the  fact 
that  we  cannot  understand  the  Reformation  and  the  Modern 
periods  without  study  of  the  Mediaeval  period.  It  is  known  now, 
as  it  was  not  formerly,  that  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  of  the 
Middle  Ages  was  something  more  than  the  Popes,  and  that  a 
very  one-sided  view  of  its  history  is  obtained  by  giving  exclusive 
attention  to  the  Papacy.  There  is  a  growing  disposition  on  the 
part  of  Protestant  historians  to  recognize  the  good  in  the 
Mediaeval  Church  and  the  fact  that  even  the  Popes  were  not 
all  wicked  men.  There  is  to-day  a  cordial  acknowledgment 
of  the  debt  which  Europe  in  the  Middle  Ages  owed  to  the  monk 
as  civilizer  and  Christian  missionary,  while  recognizing,  as  the 
older  historians  did,  that  Monasticism  in  its  decline  was  one  of 
the  evils  that  made  the  Reformation  necessary. 

It  may  be  said  in  general  that  the  Middle  Age  has  been  re- 
garded as  less  fruitful  than  the  periods  before  or  after  it,  and 
therefore  has  not  received  the  same  degree  of  attention  from 
students  of  Church  History.  Much  has  been  accomj)lished, 
however,  which  will  be  of  permanent  value.     The  most  im- 

153 


154  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

portant  contributions  in  the  last  seventy-five  years  have  come 
through  the  critical  study  and  publication  of  the  sources  of 
Mediceval  History.  Previous  efforts  had  been  made  along  this 
line,  notably  Muratori's  studies  relating  to  Italian  History,  and 
the  valuable  volumes  published  by  Bouquet  and  the  Congrega- 
tion of  St.  Maur  dealing  with  French  History.  But  these  were 
prepared  in  an  uncritical  age  and  so  fall  short  of  their  highest 
value.  In  the  early  part  of  the  last  century  Germany  and  Eng- 
land entered  upon  the  investigation  of  their  early  history  on  a 
large  scale  and  in  a  scientific  spirit.  For  the  first  time  careful, 
critical  work  was  done  on  the  manuscripts,  and  an  attempt  was 
made  to  separate  the  genuine  writings  of  an  author  from  those 
wrongly  attributed  to  him.  Scholars  have  seen  the  importance 
of  correct  editions,  and  have  cooperated  for  accomplishing  this 
purpose.  As  a  result,  many  writers  whose  works  are  important 
for  our  understanding  of  the  Middle  Ages  are  now  easily  access- 
ible in  critical  editions.  Seventy-five  years  ago  these  works 
existed  only  in  manuscript,  and  in  some  cases  only  a  single 
manuscript  of  an  important  history  was  known.  Publication 
of  such  writings  is  in  itself  an  advance  of  untold  value.  These 
works  are  not  always  Church  Histories  or  writings  relating 
directly  to  ecclesiastical  matters.  Many  of  them  are,  however, 
and  the  relation  between  Church  and  State  was  so  close  in  the 
Middle  Ages  that  there  are  few  of  these  works  which  do  not 
throw  some  light  on  Church  affairs. 

Probably  the  most  valuable  of  these  collections  is  the 
Monumenta  GermanicB.  Historica.  The  impulse  for  this  under- 
taking came  from  the  Prussian  general  and  statesman.  Stein. 
Disappointed  with  the  reactionary  conclusions  of  the  Congress 
of  Vienna  in  1815,  he  believed  that  he  might  help  in  uniting  the 
divided  Germans  by  showing  them  their  common  noble  herit- 
age. He  wished  to  arouse  a  desire  for  the  study  of  German 
history  and  to  lay  the  foundations  for  such  work.  In  1818  he 
sketched  the  plan  for  a  "Society  for  Early  German  History." 
This  was  organized  the  next  year.  Stein  became  president  and 
gave  liberally  for  its  support.  Next  to  him  the  society  owes 
its  success  to  G.  H.  Pertz,  who  was  the  editor  of  its  publications 
until  1874.  The  leading  German  historians  have  cooperated 
heartily  in  this  undertaking,  so  that  this  series  of  volumes  has 
made  possible  the  scientific  study  of  the  Middle  Ages  in  Ger- 


MEDIEVAL    CHURCH   HISTORY 


155 


many.  It  took  some  years  to  arouse  the  Germans  to  the  vakie 
of  this  work  and  in  its  early  years  the  society  was  greatly  ham- 
pered by  the  lack  of  funds.  Only  two  volumes  appeared  before 
1835.  In  its  early  history  the  German  Confederation  contrib- 
uted toward  the  expense  of  publication.  At  the  present  time 
the  empires  of  Germany  and  Austria  make  annual  appropria- 
tions toward  its  support.  The  long  series  of  early  German 
histories,  chronicles,  letters,  poetry,  legal  documents,  etc.,  etc., 
is  still  in  process  of  publication,  and  it  is  probable  that  the  origi- 
nal estimate  of  a  hundred  years  for  the  completion  of  the  under- 
taking will  be  none  too  long. 

The  most  important  work  in  Mediaeval  History  undertaken 
by  the  English-speaking  people  in  the  course  of  the  last  seventy- 
five  years  is  the  series  entitled  Chronicles  and  Memorials  oj 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland  during  the  Middle  Ages.  This,  of 
course,  is  not  confined  to  Church  History,  but  contains  a  great 
amount  of  valuable  material  relating  to  that  subject.  The 
plan  of  such  a  series  was  suggested  in  the  House  of  Commons 
in  1822.  It  was  then  stated  that  the  works  of  the  ancient  his- 
torians were  imperfectly  printed,  or  that  they  existed  only  in 
manuscript.  Sometimes  there  was  only  a  single  copy  of  a 
valued  authority.  A  uniform  and  convenient  edition  of  the 
whole  was  needed,  pubHshed  under  royal  authority.  There 
was  recognition  of  the  fact  that  such  a  work  could  be  done  only 
through  patient  labor,  and  that  much  expense  would  be  involved 
in  such  an  undertaking;  but  that  England  was  behind  other 
nations,  notably  France  and  Italy,  while  she  had  the  best  his- 
torical collection  of  any  nation  in  Europe.  This  worthy  effort 
was  without  result,  and  after  a  long  interval  the  Master  of  the 
Rolls  in  1857  submitted  a  proposal  of  similar  import.  His  plan 
was  to  select  records  with  the  help  of  competent  editors,  prefer- 
ence being  given  to  material  that  was  scarce  and  at  the  same 
time  valuable.  The  best  manuscripts  were  to  be  carefully 
collated  and  the  most  nearly  correct  text  formed  from  them. 
Each  editor  was  to  be  selected  by  the  Master  of  the  Rolls.  As  a 
result  of  this  proposal  we  have  a  series  of  volumes,  now  over  two 
hundred  in  number,  of  the  greatest  value.  The  plan  has  been 
to  select  the  best  men  available  and  give  to  each  some  work  in 
which  he  is  specially  interested,  and  with  which  he  is  competent 
to  deal.     The  list  of  editors  includes  some  of  Ensfland's  foremost 


156  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

historians  of  the  last  half  century,  such  as  Hardwick,  Brewer^ 
Thorpe,  Furnivall,  Gairdner,  and  Stubbs.  A  few  works  out  of 
many  may  be  taken  to  show  the  great  importance  of  this  under- 
taking for  the  study  of  the  Church  History  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
The  Monumenta  Franciscana  illustrates  the  social  and  religious 
work  of  the  friars  from  their  arrival  in  England,  and  inciden- 
tally gives  much  information  about  Church  affairs  at  that  time. 
Our  first  contemporary  account  of  the  Lollards  comes  from  the 
Fasciculi  Zizaniorum.  In  the  series  are  also  the  chronicles  of  a 
number  of  the  great  abbeys  of  England.  These  show  us  the 
daily  life  of  the  monks,  as  well  as  their  relation  to  the  outer 
world.  Some  of  these,  like  the  valuable  Chronicles  of  Ever- 
sham,  existed  in  only  a  single  manuscript.  Others,  like  the 
historical  works  of  Gervase  of  Canterbury,  throw  light  on  the 
Mediaeval  relation  between  Church  and  State.  Our  first  piece 
of  good  theological  disquisition  in  English  is  Pocock's  The  Re- 
pressor of  over-much  Blaming  of  the  Clergy,  which  appears  in 
this  series. 

In  considering  the  collections  of  this  period  mention  should 
be  made  of  the  labors  of  Abb^  Migne.  Aside  from  his  work 
in  other  departments,  he  has  been  of  great  service  in  making 
accessible  the  mediaeval  writers  of  the  Latin  Church  through 
his  Patrologia  Latina,  in  two  hundred  and  twenty-one  volumes. 
This  is  in  many  cases  merely  a  reprint  of  earlier  editions  and 
there  are  numerous  typographical  errors.  It  is  not  to  be  com- 
pared for  accuracy  with  the  Monumenta  Germanice  Historica, 
but  it  makes  accessible  Latin  writers  who  would  otherwise  be 
out  of  the  reach  of  many  students.  A  valuable  feature  is  the 
four-volume  index,  a  very  careful  and  complete  piece  of  work 
greatly  adding  to  the  usefulness  of  the  series. 

In  1845  t^^  Bollandists  took  up  their  interrupted  work  on  the 
Acta  Sanctorum  and  have  added  nine  volumes  to  the  long  series 
published  before  that  time.  This  is  not  a  critical  edition  of  the 
Acts  of  the  Saints,  as  Protestants  understand  criticism,  but  is  a 
treasury  of  the  legends  which  have  grown  up  about  the  lives  of 
the  saints.  While  not  of  great  value  as  a  record  of  facts,  the 
series  is  exceedingly  interesting  as  showing  the  ideals  of  Chris- 
tian life  which  ruled  in  the  different  centuries. 

Some  attempt  has  been  made  to  publish  correct  editions  of 
the   mediaeval  ecclesiastical  writers.     There  is  great  need  of 


MEDIEVAL   CHURCH   HISTORY  157 

this  because  of  the  uncertainty  connected  with  the  present 
editions.  It  is  now  a  common  and  unpleasant  experience  of 
workers  in  Mediaeval  History  to  be  in  doubt  about  the  authen- 
ticity of  the  work  they  are  using,  A  vast  amount  of  critical 
research  needs  to  be  done  here.  Correct  editions  of  the  eccle- 
siastical writers  lag  behind  similar  editions  of  the  historians 
because  there  is  less  interest  in  the  former.  There  are  few 
people  who  care  particularly  whether  or  not  we  have  a  correct 
text  of  Albertus  Magnus.  Perhaps  the  most  notable  effort  to 
overcome  this  difficulty  has  been  a  critical  edition  of  the  works 
of  Bonaventura.  Although  one  of  the  greatest  and  most  influ- 
ential writers  of  the  Middle  Ages,  his  writings  had  been  printed 
only  in  incomplete  and  inexact  editions.  Proposals  were  made  in 
1 87 1  for  a  new  edition,  and  the  study  of  manuscripts  in  different 
libraries  was  begun.  Material  was  thus  collected  for  a  critical 
edition  of  his  work.  From  1882  to  1902  a  company  of  the  Friars 
Minor,  with  headquarters  at  Quarracchi,  Italy,  was  engaged 
in  this  undertaking.  Four  hundred  libraries  were  visited,  one 
hundred  thousand  manuscripts  were  consulted,  and  the  first 
volume  alone  contains  over  twenty  thousand  variant  readings. 
More  than  one  hundred  writings,  previously  attributed  to  Bona- 
ventura, are  omitted  from  this  edition  as  spurious.  The  cross- 
references,  summaries,  tables,  and  indexes  make  this  ten-volume 
edition  a  model  of  patience  and  erudition.  It  is  to  be  hoped 
that  the  example  of  these  learned  monks  may  be  followed  in 
other  places,  so  that  much  of  the  uncertainty  and  confusion 
connected  with  the  study  of  mediaeval  authors  may  be  removed. 
Some  notable  biographies  of  the  more  prominent  men  of  the 
Middle  Ages  have  been  produced.  Bernard  of  Clairvaux  in 
particular  is  now  better  known.  Neander's  early  work  on  this 
subject  has  been  followed  by  several  others.  R.  S.  Storrs' 
Life  of  Bernard  is  inspiring,  scholarly,  and  popular.  The  more 
thorough  two-volume  work  of  Vacandard  comes  nearer  being 
definitive,  if  such  a  word  can  be  applied  to  any  presentation 
of  the  many-sided  Bernard.  Francis  of  Assisi  also  has  been 
the  subject  of  careful  study,  and  has  become  familiar  to  us 
through  the  volumes  of  Knox-Little  and  Sabatier.  Of  the  men 
popularly  known  as  "Reformers  before  the  Reformation," 
Wyclif  is  now  clearly  apprehended  through  the  publications  of 
the  Wyclif  Society,  while  the  German  Lechler  has  given  us  a 


158  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

biography  of  the  Reformer  far  superior  to  any  other.  Savona- 
rola has  had  many  biographers.  Of  these  Villari  has  produced 
a  work  of  permanent  value. 

It  is  impossible  within  the  limits  of  this  article  to  specify  the 
writers  who  have  recently  contributed  to  our  knowledge  of  the 
Church  History  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Any  such  list,  unless  a 
very  long  one,  leaves  out  writers  as  important  as  those  included. 
It  is  a  field  in  which  American  scholars  have  not  been  active. 
It  is  difficult  to  get  at  the  material  for  the  best  work  without 
frequent  visits  to  European  libraries,  and  it  is  perhaps  natural 
that  Church  historians  in  this  country  should  give  their  atten- 
tion to  less  remote  periods.  The  difficulty  which  comes  from 
lack  of  access  to  the  sources  is  becoming  less  each  year,  because 
of  the  publication  of  important  documents,  and  it  may  be  that 
presently  this  field  will  receive  its  due  share  of  attention  on  this 
side  of  the  Atlantic. 

Probably  our  ablest  living  American  historian  is  Henry 
Charles  Lea.  He  is  also  the  man  who  has  done  the  best  work 
in  Mediaeval  Church  History.  For  nearly  half  a  century  he 
has  been  investigating  Roman  Catholic  institutions,  especially 
those  of  the  mediaeval  period,  and  as  a  result  has  given  us  works 
.on  the  Inquisition,  Confessional,  and  Celibacy  which  are  a 
credit  to  American  scholarship. 

In  England  probably  the  most  influential  work  covering  our 
period  has  been  Milman's  Latin  Christianity.  Written  in  a 
style  suggestive  of  Gibbon,  it  is  sympathetic  with  the  institutions 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  while  recognizing  their  weaknesses  and 
limitations;  and  shows,  what  many  historians  are  disposed  to 
ignore,  that  there  were  noble  men  as  well  as  selfish  ones  in  that 
age,  and  that  the  movements  were  not,  all  failures. 

If  we  turn  to  the  recent  German  historians  who  have  writ- 
ten usefully  on  the  Middle  Ages,  one  thinks  naturally  of  Bishop 
Hefele  and  his  History  of  the  Councils,  extending  from  the  earli- 
est age  of  the  Church  to  the  close  of  the  mediaeval  period,  al- 
though mainly  taken  up  with  a  consideration  of  the  latter  period. 
His  work  is  one  of  great  diligence  and  learning  and  will  occupy 
a  permanent  position.  It  is  not  marked  so  much  by  originality 
of  thought  as  by  care  and  diligence. 

Perhaps  the  most  learned  historian  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  of  the  last  century  was  Dollinger,  who  was  too  scholarly 


MEDIEVAL    CHURCH   HISTORY  159 

and  conscientious  to  remain  in  allegiance  to  the  Pope  after  the 
Vatican  Council.  His  most  valuable  book  is  his  Contributions 
to  the  Study  of  the  Sects  of  the  Middle  Ages,  in  which  he  throws 
light  upon  some  of  the  so-called  heresies,  especially  the  Wal- 
densian.  He  used  scientific  methods  and  was  independent  in 
his  investigations. 

The  most  important  work  on  Church  Law  from  the  Roman 
Catholic  standpoint  is  that  of  Hinscius.  In  the  same  depart- 
ment the  Protestant  Friedberg  should  be  remembered  because 
of  his  valuable  edition  of  the  Corpus  Juris  Canonici,  a  monu- 
ment of  careful  and  exact  scholarship. 

For  a  thoroughgoing  study  of  sources,  together  with  lucid 
and  interesting  presentation  of  results,  Hauck's  Church  History 
of  Germany  is  an  undertaking  leaving  little  to  be  desired.  The 
four  volumes  cover  the  period  from  the  early  history  of  Chris- 
tianity in  the  Frank  Empire  down  to  1250. 

The  above  sketch  indicates  the  general  direction  of  investi- 
gation in  Mediaeval  History.  It  has  not  been  marked  by  the 
production  of  a  great  number  of  epoch-making  monographs  on 
single  men  or  events.  Scholars  came  early  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  work  which  most  needed  to  be  done  was  that  of  foundation- 
laying,  the  careful  collation  and  critical  editing  of  writings  which 
gave  light  on  the  past  and  which  were  in  danger  of  perishing. 
As  a  result  of  this  work,  which  must  be  continued  for  many 
years,  it  is  becoming  practicable  for  scholars  to  study  this  period 
scientifically.  It  should  be  understood  that  the  past  century 
witnessed  only  a  beginning  of  the  critical  study  and  the  publi- 
cation of  mediaeval  documents.  This  will  continue  as  govern- 
ments, learned  societies,  and  above  all  private  individuals  come 
to  a  realization  of  the  value  of  this  kind  of  investigation. 


THE   REFORMATION   PERIOD 
Rev.  £li££r  Ellsworth  Schultz  Johnson,  B.D. 

WOLFENBUTTEL,   GERMANY 

The  record  of  the  progress  made  in  the  study  of  Reformation 
History  during  the  past  seventy-five  years  must  be  looked  for  in 
the  character  and  growth  of  the  literature  of  that  period.  In 
1834  the  work  of  investigation  in  this  field  was  almost  exclusively 
confined  to  Europeans.  In  the  thirties  of  the  last  century  but 
few  Americans  were  in  attendance  upon  the  German  universities. 
It  was  not  until  the  second  half  of  the  century  that  the  great 
change  in  this  direction  came.  Since  then  Americans  too  have 
begun  to  do  a  considerable  amount  of  careful  study  in  this,  as  in 
all  other  fields  of  investigation.  With  this  introduction  of  west- 
ern thought,  and  the  influence  of  an  international  spirit  that 
demanded  thoroughgoing  research,  there  has  come  a  series  of 
changes  that  may  be  taken  to  indicate  the  progress  made  in  the 
specified  time. 

The  first  change  that  is  everywhere  apparent  is  in  the  multi- 
plication of  Reformation  literature.  Seventy-five  years  ago  the 
books  relating  to  that  period  were  comparatively  few  in  number; 
the  older  works  of  Seckendorf,  Schrockh,  and  Marheineke  con- 
tinued to  be  among  the  chief  sources.  Schuler  and  Schulthess 
were  in  the  midst  of  their  Huldrici  Zwinglii  Opera ;  Bretschneider 
and  Bindseil  had  just  begun  the  colossal  Corpus  Reformatorum, 
consisting  chiefly  of  the  works  of  Melanchthon  and  Calvin. 
Hottinger  in  Switzerland  had  but  recently  issued  his  work  on 
the  Swiss  Reformation,  and  Merle  d'Aubigne  in  France  was  just 
getting  his  history  of  the  Reformation  ready  for  the  press. 
Hagenbach's  lectures  had  begun  to  appear,  but  very  few  had 
written  either  on  the  Anabaptist  movement  or  on  the  Peasants* 
War,  on  both  of  which  a  mass  of  literature  has  appeared  since 
then,  most  of  it  since  the  work  of  Egli  and  Keller  began. 
The  handbook  on  Zwingli  by  Usteri  and  Vogelin  was  fifteen 
years  old,  and  Schlegel  had  confined  his  labors  entirely  to  the 

160 


THE   REFORMATION   PERIOD  i6i 

North  German  Reformation.  In  1838-40  Bullinger's  Re- 
formations geschichte  was  issued.  These  few  citations  are  the 
most  important  examples  of  the  work  then  accomphshed  or  in 
process  of  accomplishment. 

In  the  succeeding  decade  two  men  of  especial  eminence  began 
their  publications:  Dollinger  gave  us  the  first  edition  of  Die 
Reformation,  ihre  innere  Entwicklung  in  1846;  Ranke  issued  his 
Geschichte  im  Zeitalter  der  Reformation,  giving  what  is  known 
as  the  "Protestant  presentation  view,"  in  1847.  Since  1850 
the  increase  of  Reformation  literature  has  gone  on  with  tremen- 
dous strides.  Notice  among  the  many  biographies  and  publica- 
tions on  Luther  those  of  Enders,  Kolde,  Kostlin,  Kawerau, 
Hausrath  in  Germany,  and  of  Jacobs  in  the  United  States. 
Then  there  are  the  scores  of  publications  on  the  contemporaries 
of  Luther.  Among  Reformation  histories  Hase,  Kurtz,  Bezold, 
Fisher,  Walker  and  Lindsay  are  examples  of  the  many  books 
issued  on  the  subject.  More  extensive  undertakings  include 
the  Weimar  edition  of  Luther  begun  in  1883,  more  recently 
the  issue  of  a  new  and  critical  edition  of  Zwingli  in  Switzerland, 
in  the  United  States  an  English  edition  of  Luther;  and  now 
Hartranft  has  planted  the  banner  of  American  scholarship  on 
the  continent  of  Europe  by  beginning  the  publication  of  the 
Corpus  Schwenckfeldianorum  in  Leipzig.  Indeed,  the  multi- 
plication of  books  on  the  subject  has  been  so  great  that  between 
1850  and  1875  it  is  two  times,  and  between  1875  and  1908  five 
times,  greater  than  what  it  was  between  1834  and  1850.  While 
this  proportion  pertains  chiefly  to  Germany,  practically  the  same 
ratio  is  applicable  to  France,  England,  and  Scotland.  The 
number  of  periodicals  and  magazines  issued  within  the  last  fifty 
years  is  legion ;  if  anything,  their  proportionate  increase  is  even 
greater  than  that  of  the  books. 

A  second  feature  is  the  change  from  dogmatic  statement  to  a 
spirit  of  minute  research.  Around  the  true  story  of  the  great 
struggle  of  the  sixteenth  century  there  had  grown  up  a  mass  of 
legend  and  tradition  which  closed  the  eyes  of  men  to  the  actual 
facts.  What  had  been  handed  down  through  ten  generations 
as  the  real  account  was  still  asserted  to  be  the  infallible  truth. 
This  confusion  of  data  was  not  yet  recognized  when  Secken- 
dorf's  apology  for  Luther  continued  to  be  the  chief  authority, 
nor  had  historians  broken  through  this  traditional  wall  without 


i62  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

being  considered  skeptical  when  d'Aubigne  wrote  his  history. 
In  certain  quarters  books  and  papers  on  Reformation  topics  were 
approved  or  disapproved  by  the  absence  or  presence  of  "neo- 
logical"  errors.  In  1834  Hagenbach  was  attracting  attention 
by  his  Vermittelungstheologie,  taking  an  intermediate  position 
between  the  old  Supernaturalists  and  the  Rationalists.  Grad- 
ually departing  from  the  position  of  Schleiermacher,  he  laid 
increasing  emphasis  upon  the  independent  objective  reality  of 
Christianity  and  the  confessions  of  the  Church.  Like  many 
of  his  contemporaries,  his  fame  does  not  consist  so  much  in 
originality  of  treatment  or  new  discovery,  as  in  a  comprehen- 
sive view  of  accepted  truth,  amiable  spirit,  and  attractive 
language.  D'Aubigne  likewise  was  much  "praised  for  the 
vivacity  of  his  style,  the  fervor  of  his  piety,  and  the  pronounced 
orthodoxy  of  his  opinions,"  but  he  has  no  standing  as  an 
authority.  While  Ranke  also  attracted  great  attention  on 
account  of  his  style  and  composition,  he  received  greater  recog- 
nition by  reason  of  the  "ingenuity  evinced  in  gathering  and 
sifting  the  materials."  By  a  gradual  process  students  became 
more  critical  in  their  acceptance  of  data.  This  involved  the 
observance  of  details  requisite  to  substantiate  and  clarify  his- 
torical statements.  This  close  scrutiny  of  the  facts,  together 
with  an  almost  insatiable  passion  for  the  discovery  of  additional 
information  and  sources,  may  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  most 
significant  changes  during  these  years.  The  leaders  and  move- 
ments of  the  Reformation  that  were  once  brushed  aside  as 
heretic  or  fanatic  in  character  are  being  carefully  investigated, 
either  for  the  purpose  of  determining  their  contribution  to  the 
thought  of  the  time,  or  to  disprove  the  general  condemnation  to 
which  they  have  been  subjected.  This  new  and  hopeful  spirit 
is  evidenced  by  the  organization  of  a  considerable  number  of 
historical  societies  in  Germany  that  have  for  their  main  purpose 
the  close  study  of  neglected  and  often  forgotten  points  relating 
to  the  village  as  well  as  town  life  of  Reformation  times.  Such 
studies  as  Bauch  in  Breslau  makes  of  the  Latin  written  by  the 
Reformers,  or  as  Clemen  in  Zwickau  undertakes  in  his  publica- 
tion of  Reformations  Flugschriften,  indicate  a  desire  to  know  the 
so-called  minor  contributions  made  to  the  reform  movement. 

In  the  third  place,  if  one  will  look  over  the  list  of  books 
published  on  Reformation  History  during  the  past  seventy-five 


THE   REFORMATION   PERIOD  163 

years,  he  must  at  once  observe  that  students  have  passed  from 
a  narrow,  exclusive,  and  in  most  cases  a  purely  sectarian  view, 
to  a  broad,  inclusive,  and  more  fraternal  interpretation  and  treat- 
ment. Until  a  comparatively  recent  date  in  considering.  Ref- 
ormation events  men  could  think  of  only  one  individual  as 
having  done  all  the  work.  Luther  and  the  Reformation  were 
synonymous.  Every  person  failing  to  espouse  the  Lutheran 
cause  was  immediately  swept  into  the  realm  of  sects,  and  yet 
no  movement  has  been  so  sectarian  and  partial  as  that  which  has 
claimed  everything  for  Luther.  While  it  is  true  that  seventy- 
five  years  ago  the  works  of  Calvin  and  of  Zwingli  were  being 
published  in  large  editions,  it  was  Luther,  or  Melanchthon,  or 
Bugenhagen,  or  Jonas,  or  Amsdorf,  or  Illyricus  who  enlisted  the 
thought  of  the  biographer  and  the  historian.  Had  Barge 
written  and  published  his  Karlstadt  then,  he  would  have  fared 
no  better  than  did  Salig  one  hundred  years  earlier,  when  he  issued 
the  results  of  his  scientific  treatment  of  the  remarkable  collection 
of  Schwenckfeld  manuscripts  in  the  library  at  Wolfenbuttel. 
Hosts  of  individuals  even  now  think  only  of  Luther  when  talking 
of  the  Reformation.  This  sort  of  mental  attitude  is  the  echo  of 
a  narrow  sectarianism  which  consigned  all  insubordinate  move- 
ments to  the  long  line  of  heretical  outcasts.  It  was  difficult 
for  many  to  think  even  in  charitable,  not  to  say  fraternal,  terms 
of  Knox  or  Zwingli,  or  of  the  splendid  men  who  were  dubbed 
Pietists  or  Anabaptists.  But  thanks  to  the  rise  of  critical  ex- 
amination and  a  careful  study  of  documents,  the  presence  of  a 
friendly  philosophy  is  now  recognizable  in  the  treatment  of  the 
records  of  the  great  Reformation.  This  philosophy  of  history 
has  taught  men  to  see  the  true  spirit  of  democracy  generally 
found  in  the  camp  of  those  who  were  despised  and  even  per- 
secuted. It  is  now  known  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  as  well 
as  in  England  and  America,  that  the  Scotch  Reformation,  in 
its  struggle  for  religious  liberty  and  separation  from  an  imperious 
Papacy,  was  of  equal  importance  with  the  great  Continental 
uprising;  and  furthermore  that  the  apostles  of  piety,  who  were 
frequently  disgracefully  and  shamefully  belabored  for  their 
conscientious  stand,  made  abiding  contributions  to  the  spiritual 
life  of  to-day.  Only  in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century 
such  a  view  began  to  be  accepted  by  men  like  Erbkam  and 
Friedrich  Schneider.     Then  also  a  more  fraternal  treatment  of 


i64  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

facts  arose  in  Catholic  circles.  Even  though  one  were  to  admit 
that  this  emanated  from  a  purely  rational  starting-point,  it  is 
nevertheless  indicative  of  a  desire  to  know  the  truth.  Within 
the  Catholic,  as  in  the  Protestant  bodies,  liberal  and  conservative 
parties  exist.  Such  liberal  parties  as  those  dominating  the 
Bishopric  of  Breslau  at  the  present  time  are  evidence  of  a  grow- 
ing desire  to  have  the  facts  of  history  revealed  according  to  the 
testimony  given  by  the  documents.  It  is  a  decided  mark  of  prog- 
ress that  the  cold  data  of  history  around  which  the  great  events 
cluster  have  a  greater  significance  to-day  than  the  mere  record 
of  controversy,  or  separation,  or  persecution ;  they  glow  with  the 
warmth  of  a  fraternity  which  grew  out  of  the  conflicts  and  suffer- 
ings of  that  day. 

The  fourth  point  that  indicates  progress  in  the  study  of  Ref- 
ormation History  may  be  called  the  rise  of  a  new  interest  in 
what  are  commonly  known  as  the  minor  influences  and  move- 
ments of  the  Reformation.  Between  the  years  1834  and  1850 
writers  here  and  there,  Hartmann,  Geschichte  der  Reformation  in 
Wiirttemherg ;  Spieker,  Kirchen-  und  Reformations  geschichte  der 
Mark  Brandenburg ;  Voigt,  Briefwechsel  der  Gelehrten  mit  Her- 
zog  Albrecht  von  Preussen;  Sugenheim,  Bay  ems  Kirchen-  und 
V olkszustande  im  XVI  Jahrhundert,  etc.,  give  us  glimpses  into 
individual  communities;  but  for  the  most  part  these  are  either 
partial  to  Wittenberg  or  Augsburg,  or  are  general  in  their  con- 
sideration of  the  subject.  Since  1850  men  like  Gindely  in  his 
publications  on  the  Bohemian  Brethren,  and  Paul  Tschakert 
in  the  publication  of  his  Urkundenbuch  zur  Reformations  ge- 
schichte des  Herzogthums  Preussen,  one  of  the  most  significant 
contributions  to  the  less-known  elements  in  the  Reformation 
of  Prussia  under  Herzog  Albrecht,  have  given  inspiration  to 
scores  of  men  to  investigate  specific  influences  and  movements. 
Numerous  articles  and  histories  have  appeared  on  every  German 
province.  Noteworthy  illustrations  of  work  done  on  these 
minor  movements,  as  they  have  been  called,  are  found  in  such 
books  as  Barge's  Neue  Aktenstucke  zur  Geschichte  der  Witten- 
berger  Unruhen  von  152 1-2;  Meyer,  Der  Wiedertdufer  Nikolas 
Storch;  Clemen,  Beitrdge  zur  Reformations  geschichte,  collected 
from  books  and  manuscripts  in  the  Ratsschulbibliothek  of 
Zwickau;  Loetscher,  Schwenckfeld  in  the  Eucharistic  Contro- 
versy; and  French,  The  Correspondence  of  Caspar  Schwenck- 


THE   REFORMATION   PERIOD  165 

Jeld  of  Ossig  and  the  Landgrave  Philip  of  Hesse.  All  of  these 
and  others  have  not  treated  their  subjects  with  confessional 
limitation,  but  on  the  basis  of  the  facts  revealed  in  the  documents 
at  hand.  During  the  last  half  century  the  conviction  has  grown 
up  that  a  complete  view  of  the  Reformation  and  its  true  philoso- 
phy can  only  come  when  we  have  before  us  the  entire  body  of 
evidence.     To  secure  that  is  the  work  of  generations. 

A  fifth  point  marking  progress  in  this  study  is  found  in  the 
collection  of  information,  more  or  less  disconnected  but  im- 
mensely important,  concerning  the  history  of  culture  resulting 
from  the  Protestant  Reformation.  This  involves  a  sociological 
and  economic  survey  of  the  period.  In  this  field  Bezold  in  his 
Geschichte  der  deutschen  Reformation,  and  the  volume  on  the 
Reformation  in  the  Cambridge  Modern  History,  are  excellent 
illustrations;  specifically,  Ehrenberg  gives  us  the  economic 
side  in  his  several  publications  on  the  Fugger  family  as  the 
financiers  in  the  ecclesiastical  conflict  of  the  sixteenth  century; 
Rockwell  in  his  Doppel-ehe  von  Landgraf  Philip  von  Hesse 
makes  an  indispensable  contribution  to  the  study  of  social  con- 
ditions. There  are  also  numerous  publications  on  the  care  of 
the  poor.  All  these  investigations  aid  in  breaking  through  the 
haze  that  still  clouded  the  horizon  in  the  days  of  Hagenbach 
and  d'Aubigne.  Indeed,  the  work  done  along  this  line  is  almost 
exclusively  confined  to  the  last  twenty  or  twenty-five  years, 
and  during  that  time  the  attitude  of  mind  has  changed  to  a 
remarkable  degree. 


THE  HISTORY   OF   DOCTRINE 

Professor  Andrew  C.  Zenos,  D.D. 
McCoRMicK  Theological  Seminary 

The  History  of  Doctrine,  like  that  of  many  another  branch 
of  reh'gious  learning,  is  a  child  of  the  Reformation.  The  main 
part  of  its  life,  however,  was  developed  in  the  nineteenth  century, 
and  more  particularly  in  the  last  seventy-five  years.  In  the  first 
instance  interest  in  it  was  measured  by  the  help  it  afforded  the 
Reformed  theologians  in  their  controversy  with  Roman  Ca- 
tholicism. As  the  heat  of  polemics  abated,  another  motive  for 
keeping  it  alive  made  itself  felt.  This  was  rooted  in  the  broader 
conception  of  the  sphere  and  content  of  Church  History  at  large. 
The  great  Mosheim,  more  than  any  other  single  man,  stimulated 
interest  in  the  history  of  Christian  thought  by  making  it  a  part 
of  his  task  as  an  ecclesiastical  historian  to  examine  and  expound 
the  thought  of  each  successive  period  in  the  life  of  the  Church 
alongside  with  his  review  of  its  outward  events.  Simulta- 
neously the  several  fundamental  articles  of  the  Christian  creed 
were  studied  in  their  history  for  the  sake  of  the  light  to  be  secured 
in  this  way  on  the  Christian  religion  as  a  whole.  Lofller's  in- 
vestigations in  the  history  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  for 
instance,  may  serve  as  a  single  illustration  of  the  nascent  interest 
in  our  subject  from  this  point  of  view. 

But  none  of  these  sources  of  interest  was  strong  enough  to 
lead  to  the  separation  of  the  History  of  Doctrine  and  its  organiza- 
tion into  a  distinct  and  independent  branch  of  theological  study. 
It  was  reserved  for  the  closing  decade  of  the  eighteenth  century 
to  produce  such  a  result.  In  S.  G.  Lange's  Ausfiihrliche  Ge- 
schichte  der  Dogmen  (I,  1796)  the  conception  found  a  first,  if  not 
quite  tentative,  at  least  partially  executed,  expression.  Lange's 
work  remained  a  fragment,  but  the  idea  which  gave  it  birth  was 
not  long  in  maturing  in  two  complete  works  on  the  subject  by 
Miinscher    (Handbuch   d.    chrisL    Dogmengeschichte,  4   vols., 

166 


THE   HISTORY    OF   DOCTRINE  167 

1797-1809;  and  Lehrbuch,  i  Aufl.,  1811,  3  Aufl.  by  Colin,  Hup- 
feld,  and  Neudecker,  1832-38).  In  these  the  author  showed  the 
way  to  an  unbiased  study  of  the  facts.  Naturally  his  work  was 
characterized  by  the  crudities  of  a  first  effort,  as  well  as  the  influ- 
ence of  the  Rationalism  which  was  still  in  the  ascendant  in  Ger- 
man theology.  But  the  field  thus  opened  soon  became  favorite 
ground  for  new  investigations.  Yet  in  the  first  thirty  years  of 
the  nineteenth  century  no  further  progress  was  made  towards 
bringing  to  its  cultivation  other  features  of  the  historical  method 
than  the  firm  determination  to  ascertain  and  reproduce  the  exact 
facts,  a  procedure  which  was  sufficiently  prominent  in  the  work 
of  Miinscher. 

Strange  to  say,  the  impulse  which  led  to  the  introduction  of  a 
more  fully  historical  method  into  this  historical  discipline  origi- 
nated in  the  realm  of  philosophy.  It  was  the  Hegelian  principle 
of  evolution  that  was  used  in  the  tracing  of  a  definite  order  and 
progress  from  initial  forms  laid  down  in  the  earliest  days  of  the 
Christian  religion  to  others  in  successive  stages.  Thus  both  of 
the  essential  branches  of  the  historical  method,  i.e.,  (i)  the 
determination  to  ascertain  the  facts  in  their  actual  settings  as 
attested  by  accredited  witnesses,  and  (2)  their  interpretation 
in  harmony  with  an  exact  law  of  inner  unfolding  (development), 
came  into  full  operation  in  the  study  of  the  history  of  dogma. 

For  a  long  period,  however,  following  the  first  use  of  this  idea 
the  a  priori  and  purely  speculative  theory  as  to  what  develop- 
ment is,  and  how  it  operates  or  is  operated,  ruled  supreme. 
Accordingly,  the  works  of  the  Hegelians  (D.  F.  Strauss,  Die 
christliche  Glauhenslehre  in  ihrer  geschichil.  Entwickelung, 
1840-41;  and  from  the  so-called  "Hegelian  right,"  Marheineke, 
Christl.  Dogmengeschichte,  Ed.  Matthies  and  Vatke,  1849), 
though  making  the  effort  to  take  full  account  of  the  task,  are 
dominated  by  too  abstract  an  idea  of  history.  More  truly  is 
this  the  case  with  the  leading  representative  of  this  school,  F. 
Chr.  Baur,  who  in  a  characteristically  brilliant  work  (Lehr- 
buch d.  christl.  Dogmengeschichte,  1847,  3  Aufl.,  1867)  does 
nothing  more  than  interpret  the  gigantic  mass  of  facts  which 
he  presumably  has  examined  de  novo  for  himself  as  an  expression 
of  the  presupposed  principles  of  the  favorite  philosophy. 

The  idea  of  development,  however,  once  introduced  as  a  guide 
in  the  reading  of  the  facts,  was  destined  to  have  other  than  the 


i68  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

Hegelian  applications  of  it.  Without  being  placed  in  a  too 
conspicuous  position  in  the  system,  it  is  assumed  in  the  work  of 
Schleiermacher's  school  of  theology.  The  typical  representative 
of  this  school,  A.  Neander  {Christl.  Dogmengeschichte,  1857; 
similarly  Hagenbach,  Dogmengeschichte,  4  Aufl.,  1857;  Eng. 
trans.  1861)  displays  a  much  keener  appreciation  of  the  re- 
ligious value  of  doctrinal  statements  and  a  truer  estimate  of 
Christianity  as  a  religion  than  the  Hegelians,  but  comes  short 
because  he  disposes  of  his  material  according  to  the  rubrics  of 
Dogmatic  Theology.  These  rubrics  are  certainly  not  those 
furnished  by  the  historic  principle.  A  parallel  presentation 
from  nearly  the  same  point  of  view  and  with  the  same  defect 
in  method  was  the  work  of  W.  G.  T.  Shedd  {History  of  Doctrine, 
2  vols.,  1863,  loth  ed.,  1891).  Shedd  professes,  if  possible,  a 
stronger  predilection  towards  the  idea  of  development  than  the 
German  theologians. 

These  lines  of  movement  could  not  fail  to  stir  activity  in 
other  quarters,  especially  in  Germany,  where  loyalty  to  con- 
fessional standards  appeared  to  be  openly  challenged.  The 
confessional  school  found  its  first  great  champion  in  Kliefoth 
{Einl.  in  d.  Dogmengeschichte,  1839).  The  fundamental 
characteristic  here  is  the  emergence  of  the  idea  of  dogma  as 
distinguished  from  doctrine.  The  latter  may  be  defined  as 
Christian  teaching  in  general ;  the  former  is  the  official  teaching 
of  the  Church.  The  object  of  the  search  in  the  history  of  dogma 
is  not  Christian  thought  in  its  breadth.  That  would  be  a  quest 
for  ill-defined,  and  perhaps  not  vitally  significant,  matters. 
This  object  is  rather  the  body  of  well-defined  conceptions  which 
the  Christian  Church  has  held  and  taught  and  expected  its 
membership  to  accept,  or  required  its  leadership  to  inculcate. 
Kliefoth  aims  to  point  out  certain  dogmatic  cycles  coinciding 
with  the  great  epochs  of  the  Church's  life.  Each  epoch  has 
wrought  out  its  cycle,  and  left  it  to  succeeding  generations  more 
as  a  deposit  to  be  cherished  and  preserved  than  as  material  to  be 
reshaped  into  other  forms.  Thus  the  difference  in  theory  of 
development  between  Baur  and  Kliefoth  is  mainly  that  the  latter 
assumes  the  survival  and  incorporation  of  the  work  of  each  epoch 
in  that  of  the  succeeding,  whereas  the  former  sees  in  each  suc- 
cessive stage  a  contradiction  and  cancellation  of  the  preceding. 

While  these  divergences  of  point  of  view  were  making  them- 


THE   HISTORY    OF   DOCTRINE  169 

selves  more  and  more  clearly  felt  within  Protestantism,  Roman 
Catholic  scholarship  was  not  altogether  indifferent  to  the  in- 
terest they  aroused.  Its  starting-point,  however,  was  the  char- 
acteristic conception  of  dogma  as  the  peremptory  opinion  of  the 
Church  on  the  fundamentals  of  the  Christian  religion.  The 
earlier  works  from  this  point  of  view  (Klee,  Lehrhuch  d.  Dog- 
mengeschichte,  1837)  recognized  no  possibility  of  a  material 
alteration  either  in  substance  or  in  form  from  one  generation  to 
another.  Whatever  appeared  to  be  differences  of  presentation 
were  such  only  relatively  to  the  conditions  and  circumstances 
within  which  the  Church  put  forth  its  definitions  from  time  to 
time,  either  as  a  repudiation  of  prevalent  error,  or  because  of  the 
exigencies  that  called  for  the  exercise  of  its  teaching  function. 
No  enlargement  of  the  teaching  of  the  Church  by  its  decisions  or 
addition  of  new  revelations  to  Christian  truth  in  course  of  time 
are  allowed  even  by  Schwane  {Dogmengesch.  der  vornicdnischen 
Zeit,  1862;  der  palrist.  Zeit,  1869  ;  der  mittler.  Zeit,  1882).  Nor 
is  the  Church  conceded  the  function  of  doing  more  than  reiterating 
what  she  had  received  in  Holy  Scripture  or  in  the  oral  tradition 
of  the  Apostles. 

Yet  the  theory  of  development  ultimately  found  its  way  even 
into  the  thinking  of  Roman  CathoHc  leaders.  The  special 
form  of  it  utilized  here  is  given  in  Cardinal  Newman's  Essay 
on  Development  (1845).  According  to  this  eminent  authority 
the  original  deposit  of  revealed  truth  taught  by  Christ  and  the 
Apostles  to  the  primitive  Church  is  in  a  large  measure  implicit 
and  germinal.  Only  slowly  and  gradually  does  it  unfold  under 
the  stimulus  of  external  conditions.  The  process  of  bringing 
it  into  true  visibility,  however,  does  not  go  on  spontaneously  or 
fortuitously,  but  is  absolutely  controlled  and  directed  by  the 
authoritative  and  infallible  Church.  Error  is  thus  excluded 
from  the  process.  The  nucleus  of  this  theory  will  be  recognized 
as  scientifically  sound.  It  admits  the  analogy  between  the 
evolution  of  thought  and  biological  evolution.  It  is  only  at  the 
point  where  it  posits  an  infallible  guidance  that  it  is  differentiated 
in  the  realm  of  Christian  doctrine.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  in 
spite  of  the  invaluable  support  such  a  theory  was  aimed  to  give 
to  the  doctrine  of  infallibility,  it  encountered  severe  critics  in 
the  camp  of  its  own  friends,  and  has  never  been  free  from 
suspicion  there. 


lyo  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

Of  the  several  directions  which,  within  Protestantism,  stu- 
dents of  doctrinal  history  took,  the  one  which  was  destined  to  lead 
farthest  was  the  path  of  the  Confessionalists  in  Germany.  Klie- 
foth's  successor  and  natural  heir  on  this  path  was  Thomasius 
{Die  christl.  Dogmengeschichte  als  Entwicklungsgesch.  des  kirchl. 
Lehrhegriffs,  2  vols.,  1874-76;  2  Aufl.,  by  Bonwetsch  and 
Seeberg,  1887) ;  and  the  great  merit  of  Thomasius  lies  in  the 
perception  of  the  fact  that  development  must  be  regarded  as  a 
process  complete  in  itself.  Christianity  consists  in  certain 
central  doctrines  around  which  are  formed  certain  others  of  a 
peripheral  character.  The  central  and  primary  doctrines  con- 
tain all  others  of  a  derivative  nature,  and  these  latter  come  to 
their  perfection  in  due  course  of  discussion  by  a  process  of 
self-explication.  The  Church  meantime  occupies  with  ref- 
erence to  the  development  the  place  of  a  witness,  recording,  but 
not  controlling  the  process  —  a  conception  which,  of  course, 
can  only  be  taken  in  a  symbolical,  not  strictly  a  historical,  sense. 

From  Thomasius  to  F.  Nitzsch  {Grundriss  d.  christl.  Dog- 
mengeschichte, 1870)  the  direction  is  towards  a  new  disposition 
of  the  materials  of  doctrinal  history.  Nitzsch  was  the  first  to 
put  into  strict  practical  use  Meier's  idea  of  obliterating  the  tra- 
ditional subdivision  of  the  subject  into  "general"  and  "special" 
sections.  Instead  of  histories  of  general  and  special  doctrines 
he  adopted  a  genetic  principle  of  arrangement  under  the  rubrics 
"The  Promulgation  of  the  Old  Catholic  Church  Doctrine"  and 
"The  Development  of  the  Old  Catholic  Church  Doctrine." 
This  division  of  the  subject  at  once  raised  the  question  of  the 
determination  of  the  boundary  line  between  "Promulgation" 
and  "Development."  The  division  itself  has  been  generally 
adopted,  but  each  historian  according  to  his  theological  pre- 
suppositions has  drawn  the  circle  around  the  original  nucleus. 
And  the  terminology  used  in  individual  instances  indicates  the 
content  and  method  of  the  promulgation.  An  illustration  is 
afforded  by  the  late  Principal  Rainy's  Delivery  and  Development 
of  Christian  Doctrine  (The  Cunningham  Lectures  for  1873). 
Here  a  strict  regard  is  had  to  the  canonical  Scriptures  as  the 
only  vehicle  and  storehouse  of  Christian  thought,  all  subsequent 
formulation  being  regarded  as  development.  To  be  sure,  this 
is  common  Protestant  ground;  and  yet  the  line  between  the 
Biblical  basis  and  the  subsequent  construction  upon  it  is  much 


THE    HISTORY    OF   DOCTRINE  171 

more  sharply  drawn  than  is  common  among  the  German  theo- 
logians. 

Nitzsch's  work  was  unfortunately  broken  off  with  the  end  of 
the  Patristic  period.  His  new  way  of  treatment,  however,  con- 
stitutes the  bridge  to  the  epoch-making  treatise  of  Adolf  Harnack 
{Lehrbuch  der  Dogmengeschichte,  3  vols.,  1886-90;  cf.  also  Grund- 
riss  der  Dogmengeschichte,  1889;  Eng.  trans.  1893).  To  begin 
with,  however,  Harnack  draws  the  line  between  origin  and 
development  at  a  different  place  from  Nitzsch,  Next,  he  under- 
takes to  distinguish  between  the  essential  nucleus  of  Christian 
doctrine  (the  Gospel)  and  all  other  aspects,  elements,  or  factors 
that  may  either  have  entered  from  the  outside  world  into  the 
totality  which  has  later  been  known  under  the  name,  or  been 
unfolded,  even  by  legitimate  logical  processes,  from  it  as  a  germ. 
Further,  he  seeks  to  trace  the  process  by  which  this  kernel  is 
worked  over  into  the  subsequent  full  body.  The  distinction 
between  "Grounding"  and  "Development"  is  in  this  process 
always  kept  in  view.  Again,  he  aims  to  exclude  the  tendency 
to  bring  the  history  of  doctrine  from  time  to  time  to  the  his- 
torian's own  period  and  there  to  judge  it  by  standards  assumed 
to  be  ultimate,  but  in  reality  amounting  to  no  more  than  the 
momentary  opinions  of  the  day.  This  tendency  very  markedly 
rules  in  such  works  as  those  of  W.  G.  T.  Shedd  and  of  H.  C. 
Sheldon  {History  of  Christian  Doctrine,  1886). 

Basing  himself  on  these  principles,  Harnack  has  produced  a 
portraiture  in  which  the  Gospel  and  the  Hellenic  elements  are 
kept  separately  in  view  and  followed  from  the  earliest  days  to 
their  blending  together  to  constitute  the  Christian  teaching  of 
the  Ancient  and  Mediaeval  Church  and  finally  to  become  con- 
solidated, through  the  extreme  development  of  the  idea  of  au- 
thority, in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  in  Tridentine  dogma. 
The  great  temptation  in  the  use  of  this  method,  and  it  is  one 
which  Harnack  has  not  always  resisted,  is  to  deal  with  thought 
as  though  it  were  a  mechanical  or  chemical  mixture  whose  direc- 
tions and  results  could  be  always  as  easily  mapped  out  as  those  of 
purely  material  and  blind  forces.  Harnack  himself  has  in  a 
later  work  {Das  Wesen  des  Christentums,  1900)  pointed  out  that 
it  is  neither  possible  nor  legitimate  to  draw  the  line  at  the  pure 
words  of  Jesus,  or  the  Apostolic  teaching,  as  exclusively  furnish- 
ing the  essence  of  Christianity. 


172  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

Harnack's  platform  is  quite  faithfully  adhered  to,  though  in  a. 
free  spirit  and  with  considerable  original  investigation,  by  Loofs 
(Leilfaden  zur  Stud.  d.  Dogmengeschichte,  1889).  Among 
American  writers,  A.  V.  G.  Allen  {Continuity  of  Christian. 
Thought,  1883)  follows  a  somewhat  similar  method  of  treat- 
ment, but  independently  of  Harnack  and  without  the  sharp  lines 
drawn  around  the  Gospel  and  the  alien  elements  which  charac- 
terize the  view  of  the  German  historian. 

As  a  result  of  the  labors  of  the  three  quarters  of  a  century 
since  1834,  the  study  of  doctrinal  history  is  at  the  point  of  separat- 
ing into  three  distinct  branches,  each  with  a  distinct  task,  viz.y. 
the  History  of  Dogma,  the  History  of  Doctrine,  and  the  History 
of  Theology.  The  first  of  these  would  be  essentially  an  expres- 
sion of  the  various  steps  which  have  led  from  time  to  time  to  the 
definition  by  the  Church  in  its  authoritative  standards  of  what 
the  Christian  should  believe. 

The  second  type  of  doctrinal  history  is  that  in  which  the 
Church  is  viewed  not  as  the  imponent  of  peremptory  opinion, 
but  the  teacher  of  commonly  recognized  Christian  truth.  The 
formation  and  successive  transformations  by  development,  or 
otherwise,  of  this  body  of  truth  would  in  this  type  be  freely  treated 
with  reference  to  standards  furnished  by  the  Bible  and  the 
Christian  consciousness.  A  typical  work  of  this  class  with  a 
tendency  to  emphasize  ecclesiastical  forms  is  Seeberg's  Lehrb. 
d.  Dogmengeschichte  (1895). 

The  third  type  —  the  History  of  Theology  —  without  aban- 
doning the  idea  of  a  teaching  Church  altogether,  would  construe 
the  whole  leadership  of  the  Christian  body,  whether  collectively 
in  official  bodies  —  Councils  —  speaking  through  official 
documents  —  the  Creeds  —  or  individually  in  great  theo- 
logians, as  exponents  of  Christian  thought,  and  would  aim  to 
trace  the  course  of  the  whole  intellectual  activity  of  the  Church 
in  this  large  sense  as  a  unified  movement.  An  instance  of  this 
type  in  the  form  of  a  manual  is  the  volume  in  the  International 
Theological  Library  by  George  P.  Fisher  {History  of  Christian 
Doctrine,  1896). 


V.   SYSTEMATIC   THEOLOGY 


PHILOSOPHY  AND   PSYCHOLOGY 

Walter  Boughton  Pitkin 
Columbia  University 

A  SEVEN-PAGE  history  of  Philosophy  and  Psychology  since 
1834  must  be  an  epigram.  Whether  measured  by  the  number 
of  devotees,  by  the  quantity  of  their  opinions,  by  the  diversity  of 
the  latter,  or  by  changes  in  method,  attitude,  and  accepted  fact, 
the  past  seventy-five  years  of  philosophical  research  constitute 
the  most  important  epoch  of  like  span  since  Athenian  days. 
Even  those  who  pray  facing  Koenigsberg  may  comfortably 
admit  this.  In  the  index  of  Ueberweg's  volume  on  Nineteenth 
Century  Philosophy  considerably  more  than  2500  post-Kantians 
are  named  as  worthy  of  the  philosopher's  obscure  immortality. 
The  hosts  of  less  famed  but  equally  earnest  thinkers,  as  well  as 
the  number  of  books  and  pamphlets  delving  into  the  human 
mind,  can  only  be  imagined.  Report  says  that  30,000  works 
have  been  written  to  prove  or  to  reprove  something  that  Kant 
asserted.  This  somber  attest  to  modern  philosophical  zeal, 
however,  does  not  convict  the  epoch  of  intellectual  monotony; 
for,  through  all  the  huzzas  and  eurekas  of  idealists,  the  last  two 
generations  have  been  hearing,  strong  and  clear,  theories  of  every 
type  known  to  the  historian.  In  1834  Herbart  had  already  finished 
his  great  system  of  Realism;  Schopenhauer,  then  forty-six,  was 
polishing  off  his  audacious  and  absorbing  Voluntarism;  Fech- 
ner,  still  a  physicist  at  Leipzig,  was  on  the  eve  of  revolutionizing 
psychological  methods  and  working  out  a  half-mystical  but 
sober  Panpsychism.  In  France  Comte,  at  his  prime,  was 
evolving  Positivism,  whose  intensely  social  character  won  many 
converts  and  almost  made  a  religion;  while  Cousin  was  vainly 
struggling  to  found  Philosophy  upon  Analytical  Psychology. 
In  Great  Britain  the  center  of  the  stage  was  rapidly  filling  with 

173 


174  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

the  warring  champions  of  IntuitionaUsm  and  Associationalism, 
Hamilton  and  Mill  towering  above  the  rest  in  the  first  skirmishes. 
Italy  was  seeing  Galluppi's  Sensationalism  confront  a  worthy 
foe  in  Rosmini's  Objective  Ideahsm.  After  1834  this  rich 
variety  of  tendencies  grows  still  richer,  until,  with  the  rami- 
fication of  later  psychology  and  logical  researches  in  scientific 
method,  it  has  come  to  assume,  at  least  to  outside  observers, 
the  helter-skelter  strenuosity  of  an  ant-hill.  System-writing 
has  ceased;  but  now,  in  place  of  twenty  great  controversies 
about  half  a  dozen  world-views,  we  find  hundreds  raging  over 
as  many  special  problems,  the  ethics  of  legal  responsibihty, 
the  logical  postulates  of  arithmetic,  and  what  not.  Hence  the 
historian  must  here  turn  aphorist,  forgetting  much  and  exag- 
gerating not  a  little  for  clarity's  sharp  sake. 

In  the  nebula  of  new  knowledge  several  drifts  are  unmistakably 
visible.  If  the  aphorist  be  allowed  his  proper  freedom,  all  these 
movements  may  be  described  as  making  for  democracy.  In 
1834,  Hegel  having  been  dead  only  three  years,  philosophy  and 
philosophers  were  still  autocratic.  Among  intellectuals,  real 
and  would-be,  the  metaphysician  ranked  as  high  priest,  as  the 
famous  victory  of  the  absolute  idealists  over  the  Prussian  uni- 
versities showed.  Toward  other  investigators  the  philosopher 
comported  himself  tyrannically,  asserting  his  divine  right  to 
guide  both  the  sciences  and  the  arts.  Within  the  State  of  Pure 
Reason  a  sort  of  feudalism  prevailed:  a  few  system-builders, 
each  ruHng  over  a  small  following,  lived  in  intermittent  warfare 
with  one  another;  while  the  unattached,  particularly  those  out- 
side of  academic  circles,  were  luckless  vagabonds.  Thus,  in 
1837,  an  obscure  ecclesiastic,  named  Bernhard  Bolzano,  pub- 
lished at  his  own  expense  a  huge  work  on  logic  and  scientific 
method  which,  only  within  the  past  decade,  has  been  recognized 
by  the  German  world  as  a  priceless  contribution.  While  nearly 
the  entire  edition  of  this  Wissenschaftslehre  was  being  sold  to  a 
junk-dealer  at  pound  rates,  ten  thousand  students  were  pre- 
tending to  find  sense  in  Hegel's  Logik  and  scoffing  at  Herbart's 
earth-born  analyses.  The  methods  of  the  system-builders  also 
may,  by  the  grace  of  language,  be  called  undemocratic; 
the  solitary  search  for  basic  principles,  the  tabulations  of  cate- 
gories by  intuition,  and  the  ordering  of  all  facts  according  to 
home-made  schemes,  are  all  procedures  typical  of  the  artistic 


PHILOSOPHY   AND    PSYCHOLOGY  175 

genius,  intensely  individualistic  and  dogmatic.  It  is  not  to 
be  wondered  at  that  some  psychologists  have  lately  pronounced 
the  philosopher  a  brother  to  the  poet;  many  a  classical  meta- 
physic  has  been  written  more  nearly  after  the  fashion  of  a  sonnet 
than  in  the  vein  of  a  scientific  treatise.  But,  since  the  days  of 
Lotzc,  roughly  speaking,  a  sharp  reaction  against  all  these 
varieties  of  undemocratic  thinking  has  set  in.  The  revulsion 
has  been  brought  about  partly  by  the  pitiful  absurdities  of  more 
audacious  theorists.  The  juggleries  of  "  thesis,  antithesis,  and 
synthesis"  were  not  alone  in  driving  toward  this  happy  turn; 
Feuerbach's  clever  catch-phrase,  "  Der  Mensch  ist,  was  er  isst" ; 
Max  Stirner's  apotheosis  of  himself  in  a  volume  of  lyrical  ni- 
hilism which  begat  Nietzsche  and  his  ilk;  von  Hartmann's 
clever  but  unconvincing  disquisitions  anent  the  habits  of  the 
Unconscious,  and  many  other  artistic  speculations  must 
each  have  had  some  influence.  But  they  were  not  the  most 
important  factors.  Three  mighty  forces,  themselves  closely 
interconnected  as  causes  and  effects,  have  been  at  work  for  more 
than  half  a  century  discouraging  the  old-school  metaphysician ; 
they  are  popular  education,  social  enthusiasm,  and  science. 
Each  has  also  stimulated  new  and  better  interests,  pursuit  of 
which  marks  characteristically  the  movements  of  latter-day 
philosophy. 

As  the  number  of  colleges  and  students  increased  during  the 
nineteenth  century  in  Europe  and  America,  and  as  higher  learning 
became  ever  more  accessible  to  the  children  of  the  middle  and 
laboring  classes,  the  number  of  hearers  in  philosophers'  lecture- 
rooms  grew  apace.  The  newcomers  were  not  all  prospective 
metaphysicians  or  theological  students.  Many  cherished  no 
traditions  of  culture  but  had  all  the  hard  common  sense  of 
peasant  and  carpenter.  Most  significant,  though,  was  the  typi- 
cally democratic  distrust  of  authority,  with  which  went  the  pas- 
sion for  free  discussion,  so  dear  to  youth  from  time  immemorial. 
Many  a  minute  problem  leading  to  momentous  conclusions  has 
doubtless  been  taken  up  during  the  past  seventy-five  years  simply 
because  some  student  clamored,  more  or  less  reasonably,  for  an 
answer.  And  the  unconsciously  practical  trend  of  seminar 
questions  and  criticisms  has  surely  turned  investigators  in  the 
direction  of  the  various  philosophies  or  psychologies  of  this  and 
that.     To  be  sure,   these  special  researches  were  sometimes 


176  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

undertaken  for  the  sake  of  filling  out  a  system;  more  often, 
though,  the  motive  was  simply  the  wish  to  understand  human 
nature  and  human  institutions.  This  desire  was  at  once  the 
seed  and  the  fruit  of  the  nineteenth  century's  remarkable  social 
enthusiasm,  which  we  have  counted  as  the  second  great  trans- 
forming force.  In  the  Positivism  of  August  Comte,  whose  huge 
Cours  de  philosophie  positive  was  being  published  volume-wise 
at  the  very  moment  when  Hartford  Seminary  was  throwing  open 
its  doors,  appear  in  their  most  sharply  accentuated  form  both  the 
revolt  against  traditional  philosophy  and  the  cry  for  a  new  human- 
ism. A  quickened  moral  sense  doubtless  molded  the  thoughts 
of  this  splendidly  fanatical  thinker  even  more  vigorously  than 
did  his  metaphysical  agnosticism;  and,  if  this  was  the  case, 
Comte  bore  witness  to  the  influence  exerted  upon  philosophy 
by  the  "spirit  of  the  age."  The  subtleties  of  metaphysical 
absolutism  were  losing  their  charm  largely  because  the  evils 
of  political,  economic,  social,  and  religious  absolutism  were 
coming  clearly  into  view  and  crying  for  a  remedy.  The  genera- 
tion which  knew  Napoleon  was  sick  of  wars  and  intrigues.  The 
world  was  enthusiastically  planning  a  new  international  law 
to  settle  differences  amicably.  Free  trade  was  in  the  ascendency 
almost  everywhere.  Monopolies  and  the  exploitation  of  weaker 
races  and  classes  were  being  fiercely  assailed.  In  1833  slavery 
was  abolished  within  the  British  Empire,  and  the  Americans 
were  beginning  to  work  for  a  like  result  in  their  own  land. 
There  were  revolutions  on  the  Continent  in  1830  and  1848; 
and  the  English  parliamentary  reforms  of  1832  were,  at  bot- 
tom, still  deeper  stirrings  of  a  new  humanitarianism.  The  war 
against  liquor  was  breaking  out  in  earnest.  Almost  at  the 
hour  of  Hartford's  birth  Claude  Gueux  was  published,  the  first 
masterly  shot  in  the  campaign  for  prison-reform  and  poor- 
house  legislation  which  was  soon  to  engross  men  all  over  the 
Western  world.  Now,  this  was  neither  epistemology  nor  logic ; 
but  because  it  was  vital,  urgent,  and  "in  the  air,"  it  caught 
the  attention  of  philosophers  and,  having  done  so,  forced  them 
to  view  human  nature  and  its  problems  more  intimately  than 
ever  before. 

The  greatest  single  manifestation  of  this  humanizing  of 
philosophers  is  Socialism,  a  term  which  we  here  use  as  a  rough 
symbol,  not  only  for  Marxism  and  its  variants,  but  also  for  the 


PHILOSOPHY   AND    PSYCHOLOGY  177 

whole  welter  of  political  philosophies,  sociologies,  new  ethics, 
yea,  and  even  psychological  theories  which  are  touched,  whether 
deliberately  or  not,  by  either  the  materialism,  the  positivism,  or 
the  altruism  appearing  in  the  campaign  literature  of  Socialistic 
parties  here  and  abroad.  We  must  forego  criticism  of  this 
jumble;  for  an  epigram  on  Philosophy  it  is  enough  to  note  only 
that  in  this  vague,  world-wide  movement  speculation  and 
practice,  the  metaphysician  and  the  day -laborer,  meet  as  they 
have  never  met  before.  Here  is  a  theory  regarding  the  ultimate 
nature  of  things  used  as  a  plank  in  a  political  platform.  Here 
are  men  like  Jaures  turning  from  epistemology  to  the  drafting 
of  labor -laws.  Here  too  are  workingmen  demanding  that 
thinkers  set  the  world  in  order  first  of  all.  Partly  a  result  of 
that  same  practicality  which  had  long  before  been  stirring  in 
scientific  circles,  this  "  union  of  brain  and  brawn"  in  a  new  social 
enthusiasm  has  also  been  the  cause  of  the  zeal  for  practical 
research  which  has  become  perhaps  the  truest  characteristic 
of  the  last  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century.  In  so  far  as  the 
"coalition  of  university  and  slum"  has  been  this,  it  has  affected 
Philosophy  profoundly,  though  in  a  roundabout  way. 

That  way  is  modern  Science,  one  of  three  great  trans- 
muting forces.  Not  only  through  its  discoveries,  but  through 
its  method.  Science  has  worked  a  veritable  revolution  in 
Philosophy.  That  method  is  empirical,  impersonal,  and 
statistical.  Because  empirical,  it  has  brought  to  naught,  by 
comparison,  all  conceptual  analysis,  inspiration,  and  dogmatic 
postulates.  Because  impersonal,  it  has  likewise  humiliated 
those  who  would  set  their  homespun  theories  against  the 
world.  Because  statistical,  it  has  compelled  all  who  would 
question  its  results  to  practice  its  exactitude.  So  far  as  the 
present  affords  basis  for  judgment.  Philosophy  has  been  in- 
fluenced far  more  positively  by  these  peculiarities  of  scientific 
method  than  by  scientific  discoveries  and  hypotheses.  Isolated 
facts  interest  the  philosophical  theorist  but  remotely,  and  the 
sure  achievements  of  Science  to-day  consist  almost  wholly  of 
such.  Wider  generalizations  are  still  uncertain,  if  not  impossible. 
In  Physics,  for  instance,  the  ether  is  a  bundle  of  contradictions, 
while  the  relation  of  matter  to  energy  is  a  theme  for  wild  con- 
jecture. Biology  still  confesses  all  its  fundamental  phenomena 
inscrutable  paradoxes.     Psychology  is  even  less  fortunate   in 


lyS  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

that  it  is  not  quite  sure  what  some  of  its  chief  problems  are; 
the  controversy  over  interaction  and  parallehsm  has  brought  into 
high  hght  the  utmost  confusion  about  the  specific  connections 
between  mind  and  matter.  There  are  some  who  feel  that  they 
have  caught  at  least  part  of  the  secret;  but  they  are  singularly 
incompetent  to  convince  others. 

This  does  not  mean  that,  in  the  darkness  about  ultimate 
things,  either  Philosophy  or  Psychology  has  stood  still  and 
empty-pocketed.  Facts  have  been  gathered  at  an  amazing  rate, 
some  great,  some  mean;  but  probably  all  worth  the  lifting. 
The  psychologist  has  searched  every  walk  of  life  for  the  con- 
ditions and  manners  of  experience.  We  have  a  psychology  of 
religion,  a  psychology  of  mice,  a  psychology  of  money,  and  a 
psychology  of  alcoholism;  and  the  things  therein  revealed  are 
not  wholly  unsuggestive.  For  all  their  incompleteness  and 
mystery,  they  point,  even  more  clearly,  to  the  functional  nature 
of  mind.  How  much  or  how  little  this  means,  it  is  not  easy  to 
say  in  a  paragraph  —  nor  yet  in  a  book  of  this  date;  but  the 
most  conspicuous,  if  not  the  most  noteworthy  contemporary 
"school,"  Pragmatism,  speaks  for  the  greater  part  of  the  philo- 
sophical and  psychological  world  when  it  declares  experience 
to  be  the  expression  of  a  function  of  the  human  organism, 
just  as  respiration  is,  and  the  concrete  elaborations  of  experi- 
ence to  be  determined  by  the  specific  needs  of  that  organism 
under  definite  environmental  conditions.  The  ease  with  which 
this  view  may  be  turned,  now  to  subjectivism,  now  to  material- 
ism, and  again  to  voluntaryism,  enlivens  its  development  with 
more  sharp  tilts  and  misunderstandings  than  are  common. 
In  the  midst  of  these  the  philosopher  is  called  upon  to  exercise 
his  ancient  prerogative,  the  criticism  of  hypotheses  and  proced- 
ure. As  Physics,  Biology,  Physiology,  and  all  the  rest  have  be- 
come more  and  more  deeply  entangled  in  the  central  issues  of 
Psychology  —  which  is  almost  synonymous  with  Philosophy  in 
most  quarters  to-day  —  the  necessity  has  arisen  of  scrutinizing 
the  assumptions  and  the  methods  of  observation  and  argument 
employed  by  scientists  who  would  force  their  conclusions  upon 
the  philosopher.  Hence  the  attention  given,  especially  in  recent 
years,  to  "New  Logic."  This  "New  Logic"  has  been  growing 
in  two  apparently  unrelated  directions ;  on  the  one  hand,  it 
has  sought  to  liberate  us  from  that  extreme  psychological  tend- 


PHILOSOPHY   AND    PSYCHOLOGY  179 

ency  which  reduces  all  thinking  to  a  mere  "brain  spark"  and 
describes  all  theories  as  equally  true,  differing  only  in  conven- 
ience; on  the  other  hand,  its  endeavor  has  been  to  depict  and 
purify  scientific  methods.  At  bottom  these  two  aims  are  closely 
related,  each  being  a  way  of  sharpening  our  instruments  of 
knowledge. 

This  scissors-grinding,  more  than  anything  else,  has  made 
a  democrat  of  Teufelsdrockh.  It  has  brought  him  down 
from  his  watch-tower  into  street,  shop,  and  laboratory.  It 
has  made  him  a  critic-of-all-trades.  It  has  taught  him  to 
consult  with  facts  instead  of  with  Bootes,  and  to  trust  the 
world's  many  workmen  more  than  his  own  private  visions. 
These  seventy-five  years  have  not  driven  the  lesson  home  as 
it  must  be  driven,  but  they  have  done  enough  to  strengthen 
Philosophy's  position  greatly.  The  philosopher  is  on  better 
terms  with  everybody  than  ever  before;  more  students  flock 
to  him;  and,  though  he  may  never  again  be  king,  he  is  at 
least  sure  of  a  long  and  honorable  career  as  chairman  of  the 
auditing  committee  in  the  Republic  of  Letters. 


THE   PSYCHOLOGY   OF   RELIGION 

Professor  George  Ellsworth  Dawson,  Ph.D. 

Haktford  School  of  Religious  Pedagogy 

The  changes  in  the  mental  attitude  of  religious  leaders  dur- 
ing the  last  seventy-five  years  has  no  more  significant  illustra- 
tion than  is  afforded  by  the  recent  beginnings  of  a  Psychology 
of  Religion.  Psychological  science  in  general  is  a  measure  of 
the  development  of  self-consciousness  in  human  society,  and  the 
advent  of  a  Psychology  of  Religion  indicates  that  man  is  begin- 
ning to  take  account  of  himself  as  a  religious  being. 

Psychology  of  Religion  may  be  defined  as  the  science  of  the 
religious  life.  As  such  its  aim  is  to  investigate  human  experience 
under  the  aspect  of  those  feelings,  ideas,  and  activities  that  go 
out  towards  the  supernatural.  Its  material  is  (i)  the  mental 
states  involved  in  religion,  (2)  the  objects  that  induce  them, 
and  (3)  the  environment  of  mind  that  affects  its  reactions  to 
such  objects.  Its  method  is  that  of  the  other  inductive  sciences. 
A  Psychology  of  Religion,  thus  understood,  did  not  exist  sev- 
enty-five years  ago.  Men  had  indeed  begun  to  analyze  their 
own  adult  states  of  religious  consciousness.  Kant  had  postu- 
lated the  idea  of  God  as  the  starting-point  of  the  religious  life, 
thus  making  religion  primarily  to  depend  upon  the  intellect. 
Schleiermacher  had  based  religion  upon  the  feelings  of  depend- 
ence and  mystery.  But  neither  Kant,  the  intellectualist,  nor 
Schleiermacher,  the  emotionalist,  had  made  any  attempt  to 
verify  their  conclusions  by  an  objective  study  of  religious  phe- 
nomena. Herder  and  Hegel  had  gone  beyond  them  in  this 
respect,  in  their  efforts  to  discover  a  universal  content  in  religion, 
as  revealed  in  racial  history,  thus  anticipating  later  genetic 
studies  of  religion.  The  influence,  however,  of  none  of  these 
European  philosophers  had  yet  been  felt,  to  any  great  extent, 
in  the  United  States.  The  New  England  theology,  which  was 
then  the  dominant  type  of  religious  thought,  was  based  essen- 

180 


THE    PSYCHOLOGY   OF   RELIGION 


i«i 


tially  upon  Jonathan  Edwards's  philosophy;  and  this  had  been 
derived  from  the  theological  premises  of  Calvinism,  v^ith  a 
certain  admixture  of  the  philosophy  of  Locke. 

The  Psychology  of  Religion,  in  the  scientific  sense  of  that 
term,  has  therefore  only  the  most  general  relationship  to  Euro- 
pean philosophy  of  seventy-five  years  ago ;  while  to  the  philoso- 
phy of  Edwards  it  has  none  at  all.  It  is  no  more  a  lineal  de- 
scendant of  the  type  of  thought  that  produced  Edwards's  treatise 
on  the  Will,  than  are  Geology  and  Biology  of  the  type  of  thought 
that  produced  St.  Basil's  work  on  Creation.  Its  genesis  is 
rather  to  be  traced  to  the  modern  inductive  sciences.  It  has 
grown  up  along  with  Biology,  Anthropology,  and  the  more 
recent  branches  of  psychological  science.  From  these  great 
scientific  activities  of  the  nineteenth  century  has  the  Psychology 
of  Religion  derived  its  viewpoint,  its  method,  and  much  of  its 
material.  Just  as  medical  science  is  dependent  at  every  point 
upon  the  more  fundamental  biological  sciences,  such  as  Bacteri- 
ology and  Physiology,  so  is  the  science  of  the  religious  life. de- 
pendent upon  the  more  fundamental  human  sciences.  With 
them  it  is  permanently  allied  in  its  general  aims,  methods,  and 
results.  It  is  in  the  light  of  these  sciences,  therefore,  that  we 
may  best  understand  the  nature,  present  status,  and  future 
significance  of  the  Psychology  of  Religion. 

In  the  words  of  a  recent  writer,^  "The  nineteenth  century 
will  be  for  all  time  memorable  for  the  great  extension  of  the 
knowledge  of  organic  nature.  It  was  then  that  the  results  of 
the  earlier  eflforts  of  mankind  to  interpret  the  mysteries  of  nature 
began  to  be  fruitful ;  observers  of  organic  nature  began  to  see 
more  deeply  into  the  province  of  life,  and,  above  all,  began  to 
see  how  to  direct  their  future  studies.  It  was  in  that  century 
that  the  use  of  the  microscope  made  known  the  similarity  in  the 
cellular  construction  of  all  organized  being ;  that  the  substance, 
protoplasm,  began  to  be  recognized  as  the  physical  basis  of  life 
and  the  seat  of  all  vital  activities ;  then  most  contagious  diseases 
were  traced  to  microscopic  organisms,  and  as  a  consequence, 
medicine  and  surgery  were  reformed;  then  the  belief  in  the 
spontaneous  origin  of  life  was  given  up;  and  it  was  in  that 
century  that  the  doctrine  of  organic  evolution  gained  general 
acceptance." 

'  Locy,  Biology  and  its  Makers,  p.  3. 


I»2 


RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 


The  significance  of  this  biological  movement  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  for  students  of  the  religious  life  cannot  be  over- 
estimated. All  departments  of  knowledge  and  all  forms  of 
individual  and  social  activity  are  being  modified  in  harmony 
with  its  conclusions.  The  human  mind  is  becoming  hiocentric 
in  its  outlook  upon  every  type  of  experience.  There  is  no  other 
explanation  of  the  changes  that  are  rapidly  taking  place  in 
literature,  art,  education,  religion,  and  social  institutions.  Bi- 
ology has  discovered  a  new  way  of  looking  at  things.  Since 
Darwin  published  his  Origin  of  Species  in  1859,  human  ex- 
perience in  every  department  of  life,  and  not  least  in  that  of 
religion,  has  taken  on  absolutely  new  meanings  and  values. 
General  Biology  has  had  its  culmination  in  Cellular  Biology. 
This  science  is  bringing  man's  mind  into  such  intimate  acquaint- 
ance with  the  elemental  forces  of  life  that  new  conceptions  of 
the  relation  between  physical  and  psychical  processes  are  be- 
ginning to  take  form.  Under  its  influence,  men  are  learning 
to  look  at  life  from  the  inside,  and  to  discern  modes  of  energy 
hitherto  unknown.  The  processes  of  cell-conjugation  and  cell- 
division,  for  example,  reveal  phenomena  for  which  there  is  no 
explanation  by  any  generally  accepted  standard  of  knowledge. 
Religious  Psychology  may  here  find  suggestions  as  to  an  entirely 
new  conception  of  the  human  soul,  and  God's  relation  to  it. 
It  is  not  improbable  that  Cellular  Biology,  which  has  thus  far 
occupied  itself  with  physiological  fact  and  theory,  may  some- 
time lead  the  way  to  a  radical  reconstruction  of  religious  philoso- 
phy. If  the  doctrine  of  divine  immanence  is  ever  to  become  any- 
thing more  than  a  philosophical  speculation,  and  be  a  really  vital 
principle  in  men's  conscious  cooperation  with  God  in  creating 
men,  it  will  be  through  the  revelations  of  Cellular  Biology. 

Another  modern  science  in  which  the  Psychology  of  Religion 
is  deeply  rooted  is  Anthropology.  This  science  investigates  man's 
development  racially,  as  Biology  investigates  his  development 
as  a  living  being.  On  the  psychical  side,  it  discovers  the  origin 
of  beliefs,  customs,  works,  and  institutions  of  the  various  races 
and  levels  of  civilization.  Its  investigation  of  the  religious  life 
of  the  race  has  created  the  science  of  Comparative  Religion ;  and 
this  science  supplies  the  Psychology  of  Religion  with  facts  and 
principles  that  enable  it  to  derive  universal  laws  of  religious 
development.     Thus  there  have  been  brought  to  light  the  unity 


THE    PSYCHOLOGY    OF   RELIGION  183 

of  religious  consciousness  in  all  mankind;  the  essential  elements 
of  that  consciousness  ;  the  objects  that  evoke  its  activities  under 
the  varying  conditions  of  racial  environment;  the  forms  these 
activities  take,  in  ceremonials,  sacrifices,  worship,  and  institu- 
tions; and  the  religious  sanction  of  conduct  throughout  racial 
evolution.  Anthropological  science  thus  helps  the  student  of 
Religious  Psychology  to  discriminate  between  the  universal  and 
essential  content  of  religion  and  the  relative  and  unessential 
content ;  to  discover  an  apologetic  for  religious  faith  on  the  part 
of  the  individual,  in  the  universal  religious  faith  of  the  race ;  to 
apply  racial  standards  as  correctives  for  the  religious  vagaries 
and  perversions  in  individuals  and  communities;  and,  in  short, 
to  establish  criteria  for  estimating  the  religious  development  of 
the  individual  life. 

A  third  science  to  which  the  Psychology  of  Religion  is  closely 
related  is  Genetic  Psychology.  This  science  investigates  the 
origin  and  growth  of  mind.  It  employs  freely  the  premises  and 
methods  of  Biology  and  of  Anthropology.  It  comprises  the  psy- 
chology of  the  lower  animals,  of  primitive  peoples,  of  children, 
and  of  defective  and  undeveloped  types  generally.  Genetic 
Psychology  is  doing  for  the  psychic  life  what  Biology  is  doing 
for  the  organic  life.  It  reduces  mind  to  its  simplest  terms;  it 
views  it  embryologically ;  and  discovers  in  its  beginnings  the 
elements  and  the  processes  that  explain  the  complex  states  and 
activities  of  the  adult  mind.  Just  as  Embryology  and  Cytology 
have  given  men  a  knowledge  of  the  human  organism  that  bids 
fair  to  emancipate  them  from  their  thraldom  to  disease,  weak- 
ness, and  premature  decay  of  the  body,  so  is  Genetic  Psychology 
giving  them  a  knowledge  of  the  primary  factors  of  the  psychic 
life,  and  the  laws  of  its  growth  and  decay,  that  will  sometime 
enable  them  to  control  the  spiritual  forces  of  the  world  as  they 
are  now  so  rapidly  learning  to  control  its  physical  forces. 

Tributary  to  Genetic  Psychology,  in  that  they  investigate 
organic  conditions  and  mental  states  in  their  relation  to  the 
growth  or  decay  of  mind,  are  Physiological  and  Experimental 
Psychology.  The  former  has  to  do  with  the  interrelations  of 
physical  and  psychical  processes.  More  especially  it  seeks  to 
discover  the  interdependence  between  the  structures  and  func- 
tions of  the  nervous  system  and  the  phenomena  of  mental  devel- 
opment, arrest,  and  disease.     From  its  results,  the  Psychology 


i84  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

of  Religion  derives  data  concerning  the  religious  and  moral 
implications  of  organic  states  —  the  significance  of  changing 
physiological  conditions  for  moral  and  religious  growth;  the 
normal  regimen  of  the  physical  life  as  affecting  the  instinct- 
feelings,  ideas,  and  activities  that  enter  into  religious  experience ; 
and  the  elements  of  truth,  or  error,  in  the  various  systems  of 
mental  therapeutics  employed  by  religious  cults.  In  short,  it 
aids  the  student  of  the  religious  life  in  understanding  the  im- 
mediate physical  environment  that  affects  religious  experience, 
and  in  controlling  it.  Experimental  Psychology  investigates 
mental  states,  aptitudes,  and  activities  by  means  of  exact  ap- 
paratus. It  cross-sections,  as  it  were,  the  psychic  life,  and  sub- 
jects it  to  microscopic  study,  attempting  to  achieve,  so  far  as 
possible,  a  complete  objective  study  of  the  mind  at  a  given  mo- 
ment, and  under  a  given  set  of  conditions.  Supplemented  by 
Physiological  Psychology,  it  gives  to  the  Psychology  of  Religion 
data  for  determining  the  general  and  individual  mental  traits 
that  enter  into  the  religious  life.  It  discovers  the  different 
degrees  and  modes  of  suggestibility,  the  characteristic  types  of 
mental  imagery,  the  varieties  of  feeling-reaction,  and  other  quali- 
ties that  predispose  to  the  various  forms  of  religious  expression. 
From  these  fundamental  human  sciences,  therefore,  has  the 
Psychology  of  Religion  had  its  origin.  Upon  them  it  was  obliged 
to  wait  in  making  its  beginnings;  for  in  its  aim  and  scope  it  is 
the  most  complex  and  derivative  of  all  the  human  sciences,  and 
so  could  not  have  originated  until  the  more  fundamental  human 
sciences  had  developed  their  methods  and  accumulated  their 
data.  Upon  them,  too,  must  it  continue  to  wait  in  clarifying  its 
aim,  and  determining  the  scope  of  its  work;  since,  being  a 
science  of  human  life,  it  must  ever  consider  the  facts  and  tech- 
nique of  those  other  sciences  of  human  life  which  have  to  do 
with  the  primary  factors  of  its  problems.  As  a  separate  sci- 
ence, indeed,  it  is  thus  far  only  correlating  and  interpreting 
the  data  of  the  older  human  sciences,  formulating  its  plans,  and 
seeking  to  find  its  own  more  specific  methods.  Its  literature 
reflects  these  initial  stages  of  its  work.  Strictly  speaking,  this 
literature  is  not  yet  twenty  years  old.  It  began  with  two  arti- 
cles published  in  1891,  in  the  first  volume  of  the  Pedagogi- 
cal Seminary  —  one  by  Professor  William  H.  Burnham  on 
"The    Study  of  Adolescence,"   and    the   other   by   President 


THE    PSYCHOLOGY   OF   RELIGION  185 

0.  Stanley  Hall  on  "The  Moral  and  Religious  Training  of  Chil- 
dren and  Adolescents."  Both  of  these  articles  analyze  the 
content  of  the  growing  mind,  and  sketch,  in  broad  outline,  its 
moral  and  religious  regimen  and  training.  President  Hall's 
article,  in  particular,  enunciates  principles  of  the  religious  life  of 
children  and  youth  which  all  subsequent  literature  on  that  sub- 
ject has  done  little  more  than  elaborate  and  apply.  The  essence 
of  Religious  Psychology  and  Pedagogy  as  apph'cd  to  the  forma- 
tive periods  of  life  is  contained  in  these  words  of  President  Hall : 
"  It  is  said  to  be  a  psychological  impossibility  to  teach  anything 
as  purely  authoritative.  If  religion  can  be  taught  or  revealed,  it 
must  already  be  preformed  in  us  by  nature,  though  it  may  be 
but  dimly.  The  teacher,  then,  must  ever  regard  and  inculcate 
religion  as  in  a  sense  a  growth  or  development,  and  in  such  a 
way  that  this  natural  predisposition  be  neither  neglected,  re- 
pressed, nor  distorted."  These  articles  have  since  been  fol- 
lowed by  numerous  studies  of  the  religious  life,  in  the  light  of 
Psychology  and  Anthropology,  made  by  President  Hall's  stu- 
dents and  others,  and  published  in  the  Pedagogical  Seminary, 
American  Journal  of  Psychology,  Association  Outlook,  Monist, 
and  other  magazines.  In  1905,  there  was  founded  by  President 
Hall  The  American  Journal  of  Religious  Psychology  and  Educa- 
tion, which  marks  the  most  distinctive  culmination  of  this  move- 
ment in  periodical  literature.^ 

The  first  book  on  the  Psychology  of  Religion  representing  that 
subject  as  here  defined,  was  Professor  Edward  D.  Starbuck's 
TJie  Psychology  of  Religion,  published  in  1899.  This  book 
is  an  elaboration  of  studies  previously  published  in  the  Ameri- 
can Journal  of  Psychology.  Its  point  of  view  is  that  of  Genetic 
Psychology  applied  to  the  study  of  adolescence,  but  its  material 
is  drawn  not  only  from  Psychology  but  also  from  the  biological 
sciences.  This  book  was  followed  in  1900  by  Professor  George 
A.  Coe's  The  Spiritual  Life,  which,  while  illustrating  somewhat 

'  Representative  studies  in  the  Psychology  of  Religion  that  have  appeared  in 
magazine  literature,  are  the  following:  Daniels,  "The  New  Life,"  American 
Journal  of  Psychology,  vol.  vi,  1893;  Leuba,  "A  Study  in  the  Psychology  of 
Religious  Phenomena,"  ibid.,  vol.  vii,  1896;  Gulick,  "Age,  Sex,  and  Conversion," 
Association  Outlook,  1897-98;  Starbuck,  "A  Study  of  Conversion,"  American 
Journal  of  Psychology,  vol.  viii,  1897;  and  "Some  Aspects  of  Religious  Growth," 
ibid.,  vol.  ix,  1898;  Lancaster,  "The  Psychology  and  Pedagogy  of  Adolescence," 
Pedagogical  Seminary,  vol.  v,  1897;  Street,  "A  Genetic  Study  of  Immortality," 
ibid.,  vol.  vi,  1898;  and  Barnes,  "Children's  Attitude  towards  Theology,"  Studies 
in  Education,  vol.  ii,  1902. 


i86  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

the  same  point  of  view  and  material,  included  a  larger  element 
of  experimental  data,  more  particularly  regarding  the  different 
religious  types  of  mind  and  experience.  With  the  appearance  of 
these  two  volumes,  the  literature  of  the  Psychology  of  Religion, 
as  represented  by  books,  had  its  substantial  beginnings.  Since 
this  time  the  growth  of  such  literature  has  been  constant,  and  of 
increasing  scope  and  significance.  Illustrative  are  the  following 
works:  Professor  William  James's  Varieties  of  Religious 
Experience  (1902)  ;  Professor  George  A.  Coe's  Religion  of  a 
Mature  Mind  (1903);  President  G.  Stanley  Hall's  Adolescence 
(1904);  Professor  Frederick  M.  Davenport's  Primitive  Traits 
in  Religious  Revivals  (1905);  Dr.  Josiah  Moses's  Pathological 
Aspects  of  Religions  (1906);  Professor  James  B.  Pratt's  Psy- 
chology of  Religious  Belief  (igoy);  and  Dr.  George  B.  Cutten's 
The  Psychological  Phenomena  of  Christianity  (1908). 

The  beginnings  of  a  Psychology  of  Religion,  however,  are  not 
to  be  seen  in  its  literature  only.  They  are  also  evident  in  the 
curricula  of  an  increasing  number  of  educational  institutions. 
In  1897,  the  Bible  Normal  College,  of  Springfield,  Mass.,  es- 
tablished a  chair  of  Psychology,  whose  work  was  designed  to 
apply  the  data  and  methods  of  the  human  sciences  to  religious 
problems.  After  the  removal  of  this  institution  to  Hartford, 
Conn.,  in  1902,  and  its  incorporation  as  the  Hartford  School 
of  Religious  Pedagogy,  it  became  afhliated  with  the  Hartford 
Theological  Seminary,  and  its  courses  were  opened  to  students 
of  that  institution.  Hartford  Seminary  was  thus  the  first  theo- 
logical institution  to  provide  for  work  in  the  Psychology  of 
Religion.  According  to  an  investigation  conducted  by  Mr. 
Carl  F.  Henry  in  1906,  to  determine  "The  Training  for  a 
Teaching  Pastorate  in  the  Theological  Seminaries  of  America,"  ^ 
the  following  additional  institutions  had  at  that  time  made 
some  provision  for  work  in  the  Psychology  of  Religion:  An- 
dover  Theological  Seminary,  Boston  University,  Crozer  Semi- 
nary, and  Gammon  Theological  Seminary.  While  this  is  but 
a  small  proportion  of  the  one  hundred  and  thirty-two  institu- 
tions that  reported  to  Mr.  Henry,  it  nevertheless  shows  a  real 
beginning  in  such  work. 

The  results  of  the  Psychology  of  Religion  up  to  the  present 
time  have  already  been  implied.    They  are  as  follows:   (i)  the 

'  A  thesis  submitted  to  the  Faculty  of  the  Hartford  School  of  Religious  Peda- 
gogy, for  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Religious  Pedagogy. 


THE   PSYCHOLOGY    OF   RELIGION  187 

fact  of  its  own  existence,  a  science  gradually  differentiating 
itself  from  the  other  human  sciences;  (2)  the  beginnings  of  an 
interpretation  of  the  facts  of  Biology,  Anthropology,  and  Psy- 
chology in  terms  of  religion,  and  of  a  reinterpretation  of  the 
facts  of  religious  experience  in  terms  of  science;  (3)  the  be- 
ginnings of  independent  investigation  in  the  sphere  of  religion, 
and  of  a  new  body  of  data  bearing  upon  the  latter;  (4)  the 
beginnings  of  a  specific  literature  which  serves  both  as  a  record 
of  progress  and  as  a  stimulus  and  guide  to  further  efforts;  and 
(5)  the  beginnings  of  educational  application,  in  the  class  room 
and  in  practical  religious  work.  These  results  are  all  very 
general  and  tentative,  and  should  be  so  regarded.  There  is 
nothing  in  them  to  warrant  any  finality  of  judgment  as  to  the 
nature  of  religion,  or  an  unqualified  application  of  Religious 
Psychology  to  religious  nurture  and  training.  Such  finality  of 
judgment  and  such  unqualified  application  can  lead  only  to  one- 
sided views  of  the  religious  life  and  to  irrational  methods  of 
controlling  it. 

In  the  judgment  of  the  writer,  there  are  three  current  tend- 
encies among  students  of  religious  phenomena  that  illustrate 
the  need  of  caution  in  the  foregoing  respects:  (i)  the  undue 
stress  laid  upon  adolescence  in  studying  the  religious  life;  (2) 
the  disposition  to  see  in  religion  an  irradiation  of  the  sexual 
functions;  and  (3)  the  tendency  to  pervert  Psychology  in  gen- 
eral, and  Religious  Psychology  in  particular,  into  mystical  and 
thaumaturgic  channels.  In  the  first  instance,  scientists  have 
merely  followed  the  very  unscientific  tendency  of  popular  re- 
ligion to  lay  undue  stress  upon  conversion  and  other  striking 
regeneration-phenomena  associated  with  adolescence,  and  the 
equally  unscientific  tendency  among  primitive  races  to  celebrate 
puberty  with  certain  rites  and  ceremonies.  In  the  second 
instance,  they  have  fixed  their  attention  too  exclusively  upon 
adolescence,  and,  believing  that  the  central  fact  of  adolescent 
life  is  the  awakening  of  sexual  consciousness,  they  have  drawn 
the  conclusion  that  sex  and  religion  are  causally  related.  In  the 
third  instance,  they  have  either  sought  in  science  for  material 
to  satisfy  a  natural  craving  for  the  mysterious  and  occult,  or 
they  have  yielded  to  the  ever  pressing  popular  demand  for 
practical  and  imposing  results. 

All  of  these  tendencies  argue  a  faulty  scientific  perspective 


i88  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

that  should  not  be  found  in  a  thoroughgoing  Psychology  of 
ReUgion.  As  to  the  first  two  mentioned,  nothing  is  more  certain 
than  the  extreme  complexity  of  the  religious  life,  and  the  com- 
prehensive synthesis  involved  in  its  conscious  phenomena.  The 
sciences  that  have  to  do  with  man's  nature  all  yield  concurrent 
testimony  that  religion  strikes  its  roots  not  in  any  one  division  of 
his  life,  or  in  any  one  set  of  functions,  but  in  all;  and  that  its 
growth,  flower,  and  fruitage  are  products  of  all  experiences  from 
birth  to  death.  Biology  makes  clear  that  the  organs  and  func- 
tions having  to  do  with  self-conservation  are  more  fundamental 
and  enduring  than  those  having  to  do  with  reproduction.  An- 
thropology makes  clear  that  man's  fears  and  hopes,  his  combats 
and  loves,  his  cravings  for  the  reason  of  things,  his  instincts  of 
cosmic  relationships  in  extent  and  duration  of  existence,  and 
his  conscience,  have  been  constant  and  powerful  factors  in  the 
racial  evolution  of  religion.  And  Genetic  Psychology  makes 
clear  that  throughout  childhood,  no  less  than  in  adolescence,^ 
the  instincts  of  self-preservation,  as  well  as  those  going  out 
towards  the  welfare  of  others,  impel  the  unfolding  consciousness 
to  religious  beliefs.  As  to  the  third  tendency,  a  broad  survey 
of  the  nature  and  regimen  of  human  life  makes  doubtful  the 
wisdom  of  singling  out  a  force  like  suggestibility,  whose  modes 
of  action  and  results  are  so  little  understood,  and  making  it 
prominent  in  the  cure  of  disease.  One  cannot  resist  the  feeling 
that  the  age-long  popular  belief  in  thaumaturgy  and  the  Church's 
own  too  exclusive  reliance  upon  a  mystical  salvation  are  here 
being  revived  under  a  new  name. 

The  Psychology  of  Religion,  properly  interpreted,  is  certainly 
not  responsible  for  either  of  these  tendencies.  Its  origin  and  its 
legitimate  aim  commit  it  to  a  broader  view  of  religion,  and  to  a 
more  comprehensive  program  of  organic  and  psychical  regen- 
eration than  are  here  proposed.  Students  of  religious  phenomena 
should  incorporate  into  their  work  the  spirit  of  the  great  funda- 
mental human  sciences  from  which  the  Psychology  of  Religion, 
has  sprung.  They  should  cultivate  a  scientific  perspective  that 
reveals  all  the  facts  and  laws  of  man's  life  in  their  true  relation- 
ship. Only  thus  can  they  avoid  the  same  narrow  and  preju- 
diced views  of  religion  that  the  a  priori  methods  of  the  past 
have  inculcated.  Only  thus  can  they  hope  to  bring  the  spiritual 
Hfe  of  mankind  within  the  domain  of  law  and  orderly  control. 


COMPARATIVE   RELIGION 

Professor  Arthur  Lincoln  Gillett,  D.D. 
Hartford  Theological  Seminary 

The  two  great  permanent  problems  of  Christian  Tlieology 
are :  (i)  to  ascertain  just  what  Christianity  is — what  it  is  as  to  the 
facts  and  truths  included  in  it,  and  the  source  and  authority 
of  these;  (2)  having  ascertained  what  Christianity  is,  to  place 
it  in  its  proper  relation  to  the  life  of  man  —  to  relate  it  thus  to 
past  history,  and  to  individual  and  social  conduct  at  the  present 
time.  In  other  words,  what  it  tries  to  do  is  to  set  forth  accu- 
rately the  content  and  meaning  of  Christianity. 

It  is  one  of  the  most  notable  differences  between  theological 
thinking  now  and  seventy-five  years  ago,  that  in  our  day  all 
efforts  to  solve  either  of  these  problems  are  so  mightily  influ- 
enced by  the  results  of  the  study  of  Comparative  Religion. 
Not  only  are  these  results  potent  in  shaping  fundamental  philo- 
sophical conceptions,  in  directing  the  interpretation  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments,  and  in  guiding  the  analysis  of  the  Christian 
consciousness;  but  their  influence  is  also  strongly  felt  in  the 
whole  realm  of  Evangelistics,  both  in  Christian  countries  and 
on  mission  fields.  A  new  line  of  contrasts  has  been  set  up. 
For  the  old  antithesis  of  religion  and  irreligion,  natural  religion 
and  revealed  religion,  is  substituted  the  comparison  between 
religion  high  and  low,  adequate  and  inadequate,  perfect  and  im- 
perfect, absolute  and  relative. 

This  outcome,  whatever  of  good  or  bad  it  may  contain  — 
with  its  impulse  toward  a  broader  sympathy  on  the  one  hand, 
and  on  the  other,  its  liability  to  a  weakened  sense  of  moral 
responsibility  in  things  religious  —  is  due  in  very  large  measure 
to  the  birth  of  a  science  which  seventy-five  years  ago  did  not 
exist. 

The  mention  of  a  few  names  and  dates  makes  clear  how  short 
its  life  has  been.  In  the  year  1834  James  Freeman  Clarke  was 
twenty-four  years  old.  Max  Miiller  and  Ernest  Renan  were  lads 

189 


I90  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

of  eleven,  Abraham  Kuenen  was  a  baby  of  two,  and  Cornelius 
P.  Tiele,  later  his  colleague  in  the  University  of  Leyden,  was 
only  two  years  his  senior,  while  Albert  R^ville  was  a  child  of 
eight.  Twelve  years  were  to  pass  before  E.  Goblet  d'Alviella 
and  Robertson  Smith  were  born.  The  issue  of  the  Sacred 
Books  of  the  East  did  not  begin  till  1879,  and  Tylor's  Primitive 
Culture  appeared  in  1871.  One  searches  in  vain  for  the  names 
of  men  who  before  these  had  any  clear  apprehension  of  the  scope 
of  the  science. 

In  England  the  mental  attitudes  in  the  eighteenth  century 
were  perpetuated  well  into  the  nineteenth.  In  1757  Hume 
closed  his  Natural  History  of  Religion  by  declaring  "the  whole 
is  a  riddle,  an  enigma,  an  inexplicable  mystery";  and  he  sought 
to  make  his  "escape  into  the  calm,  though  obscure  regions  of 
philosophy."  Warburton  felt  that  in  this  book  Hume  was  "es- 
tablishing atheism,"  and  declared  that  "a  wickeder  mind,  and 
more  obstinately  bent  on  public  mischief"  he  never  knew. 
The  fact  was,  that  in  this  work,  as  in  others,  Hume  exposed  a 
false  method  by  working  out  logically  a  reductio  ad  ahsurdum; 
and  Warburton,  more  zealous  than  acute,  was  horrified  at  the 
outcome.  In  Germany,  Herder  with  his  vision  of  the  unity 
of  the  life  of  man,  and  Hegel  with  his  profound  interpretation  of 
history  in  accord  with  the  principles  of  an  evolutional  philoso- 
phy, together  with  the  work  of  the  early  Biblical  critics,  did 
much  to  establish  that  truer  method  of  reading  history  which, 
when  applied  to  the  facts  of  religion,  developed  about  the  middle 
of  the  nineteenth  century  the  science  of  Comparative  Religion. 

The  late  appearance  of  a  science  so  significant  for  the  whole 
religious  life  is  accounted  for,  when  we  examine  a  little  more 
closely  what  are  its  scope  and  method.  "Comparative  Reli- 
gion" means  of  course  the  study  of  religion  by  the  use  of  the  com- 
parative method.  The  express  employment  of  the  defining 
word  "comparative"  in  connection  with  the  study  of  religion 
would  seem  at  first  sight  to  indicate  that  to  this  field  was  applied 
a  different  method  from  that  employed  in  the  investigation  of 
other  realms  of  scientific  research.  Such,  however,  is  not  the 
case.  This  term  really  unifies  the  method  of  studying  religion 
with  that  used  in  other  sciences,  but  serves  to  separate  it  from 
the  dogmatic  treatment  of  religion.  Its  use  simply  means  that 
men  came  to  recognize  that  religion  was  an  object  to  which  scien- 


COMPARATIVE   RELIGION  191 

tific  methods  could  properly  be  applied.  The  characteristic 
of  the  scientific  method  in  every  field  is,  first,  the  collection  of 
facts;  second,  their  analysis  and  comparison,  resulting  in  a  clas- 
sification; third,  the  discovery  of  the  unifying  laws  and  prin- 
ciples that  obtain  in  them.  The  application  of  this  method  to 
the  sphere  of  religion  involved  thus,  first,  the  History  of  Re- 
ligion —  the  collection  of  the  facts  of  the  religious  life  as  they 
have  appeared  in  successive  periods  and  in  different  places; 
second,  the  comparison  and  classification  of  these  facts  —  or 
Comparative  Religion  in  its  narrower  sense;  third,  the  correct 
interpretation  of  the  meaning  of  these  classified  facts  —  or  the 
Philosophy  of  Religion.  The  term  employed  by  Tiele,  "The 
Science  of  Religion"  is  the  most  satisfactory  one  in  common 
use  to  designate  the  whole  field. 

Accurate  knowledge  of  the  facts  in  the  history  of  many  reli- 
gions was  thus  the  necessary  prerequisite  for  the  application  of 
this  method  to  religion,  and  such  knowledge  was  not  possessed 
until  after  the  first  third  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

In  the  collecting  of  facts  great  difficulties  presented  themselves 
because  of  the  enormous  stretches  of  time  covered,  the  great 
diversity  of  language  in  which  religious  ideas  have  been  clothed, 
the  varying  stages  of  culture  where  the  religious  life  has  mani- 
fested itself,  and  the  marked  individuality  of  specific  races. 
These  considerations,  especially  the  last  two,  together  with  the 
embedded  religious  convictions  and  prejudices  of  the  age  of  the 
student  himself,  made  it  exceedingly  difficult  to  hit  upon  the 
common  elements  that  would  best  serve  as  rubrics  to  direct  in 
a  satisfactory  classification  of  the  facts  of  religion.  Further- 
more, the  remarkable  diversity  of  view  during  the  last  fifty  years 
as  to  fundamental  psychological,  epistemological,  metaphysical, 
and  ethical  principles,  together  with  the  tremendous  influence 
such  views  must  have  in  interpreting  a  group  of  facts  belonging 
to  the  realm  of  man's  psychic  life,  enhanced  the  difficulties  in 
the  way  of  securing  scientific  results  of  solid  objective  value. 
Even  up  to  the  present  time  these  difficuhies  have  not  been  en- 
tirely overcome;  but  enough  has  for  a  long  time  been  accom- 
plished in  the  way  of  well-established  results  to  make  the  skepti- 
cal complacency  of  Hume  and  the  pious  horror  of  Warburton 
appear  equally  remote  and  antiquated. 

When,  nevertheless,  the  effort  is  made  to  trace  through  its 


192  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

successive  stages  the  progress  of  Comparative  Religion,  or  the 
Science  of  Religion,  to  its  assured  results,  one  is  immediately  im- 
pressed by  the  deviousness  of  the  path  and  the  diversity  of  the 
outcome.  It  would  appear,  for  example,  impossible  to  reach 
settled  conclusions  by  the  comparative  method  until  some  well- 
established  and  generally  acceptable  scheme  of  the  classification 
of  religions  had  been  attained.  Yet  when  one  takes  up  such 
a  book  as  Jastrow's  excellent  Uttle  manual  and  turns  to  the  chap- 
ter on  Classification,  he  finds  that  nine  different  theories  of  classi- 
fication are  discussed  and  rejected  (and  several  others  might  be 
added)  and  that  the  author  proposes  a  tenth  in  which  it  would 
not  be  difficult  to  find  flaws.  Still  all  these  methods  of  classifi- 
cation have  their  excellences,  and  their  employment  has  proved 
of  service  in  bringing  into  clarity  the  common  and  divergent 
elements  in  the  historic  manifestations  of  the  religious  conscious- 
ness, and  in  accentuating  the  great  fact  of  its  fundamental 
unity  from  the  earliest  to  the  latest  times. 

The  ultimate  goal  of  a  Science  of  Religion  is  to  find  a  satis- 
factory definition  of  religion  —  to  state  what  is  its  content  and 
what  its  meaning.  In  moving  toward  this  end  various  methods 
have  been  employed,  and  it  is  in  the  examination  of  these  that 
the  development  of  the  science  is  most  clearly  revealed.  To 
the  Science  of  Religion  various  other  sciences  are  necessarily 
auxiliary,  notably  Archseology,  Anthropology,  Philology,  Eth- 
nology, Mythology,  Sociology,  Psychology,  and  the  conclusions 
of  students  of  Comparative  Religion  are  inevitably  influenced 
by  their  predilections  for,  or  familiarity  with,  one  or  another  of 
these  auxiliary  disciplines.  It  was  natural,  for  example,  to  find 
a  student  of  languages,  like  Max  Muller,  interpreting  the  nature 
of  religion  and  its  origin  in  terms  of  the  results  of  his  philological 
studies.  Valuable  as  his  researches  and  those  of  his  co-workers 
in  this  field  have  been,  it  has  proved  necessary  to  check  their 
conclusions  by  the  results  of  workers  in  other  fields. 

A  survey  of  the  progress  of  the  Science  of  Religion  shows  many 
scholars  working  at  the  same  time  in  diverse  fields,  with  different 
rubrics  of  classification,  and  all  contributing  results  valuable 
to  the  general  development  of  the  science  as  a  whole.  The 
coincidence  and  diversity  of  these  efforts  makes  precise  chrono- 
logical treatment  impracticable  within  a  limited  space.  A 
clearer  view  of  the  general  movement  is  secured  by  an  examina- 


COMPARATIVE   RELIGION  193 

tion  of  the  main  tendencies  which  have  appeared  in  the  history 
of  the  science. 

The  lines  of  development  are  most  clearly  brought  to  light  by 
a  brief  examination  of  the  different  ways  in  which  has  been  an- 
swered the  question,  How  did  Religion  come  to  be  ?  Logically 
this  is  not  the  first  question  to  be  put,  but  it  is  the  first  both 
historically  and  psychologically,  and  the  answer  to  it  has  very 
largely  conditioned  the  interpretation  of  the  phenomena  of  the 
religious  life,  both  internal  and  external.  This  is  the  form  in 
which  the  eighteenth  century  handed  on  the  question  as  the 
result  of  its  long  controversy  over  Rationalism  vs.  Supernatural- 
ism,  over  Natural  Religion  vs.  Revealed  Religion.  It  is,  more- 
over, the  form  in  which  the  Christian  thinker,  habituated  to  the 
interpretation  of  a  religious  consciousness  believed  to  be  con- 
stituted through  a  regenerating  act  of  God's  grace,  and  resting 
back  on  an  objective  revelation  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ,  naturally 
put  the  question.  Moreover,  this  question,  how  religion  came 
to  be,  inevitably  raised  queries  as  to  the  nature  of  primitive  man 
—  the  subject  of  religion ;  as  to  the  nature  of  the  God  of  primitive 
man  —  the  object  of  religion ;  as  to  the  nature  of  the  primitive 
man's  consciousness  of  his  relation  to  God  —  the  inner  side  of 
religion;  and  as  to  the  forms  in  which  this  consciousness  ex- 
pressed itself  —  the  outer  side  of  religion,  or  cultus. 

Two  distinctly  contrasted  types  of  answers  to  this  question 
appear,  the  development  of  which  show  the  characteristic  lines 
of  the  historic  progress  of  the  science.  They  come  most  clearly 
to  view  by  putting  them  in  their  extreme  forms.  On  the  one 
hand  is  the  view  of  Radical  Supernaturalism ;  on  the  other, 
that  of  a  Radical  Naturalism.  A  table  of  contrasted  theories 
with  respect  to  religion  may  be  put  thus :  — 

Radical  Supernaturalism  Radical  Naturalism 

Religion  static  Religion  evolving 

Religion  a  divine  impartation  Religion  a  human  construct 

Religion  an  absolute  truth  Religion  a  cultural  coefficient 

The  former  looks  back  to  a  primitive  man  a  little  lower  than 
the  angels,  as  a  being  of  high  endowment,  or  at  least  of  large  ethi- 
cal and  religious  receptivity,  to  whom  was  imparted  by  objective 
revelation  from  God,  a  pure,  ethical  monotheism.  Then  fol- 
lowed a  degeneration  of  man,  accompanied,  of  course,  by  an 


194  RECENT  CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

obscuring  and  perversion  of  his  religion,  succeeded  by  a  restora- 
tion in  Christ  and  a  readjustment  of  the  revelation  from  God 
to  the  necessities  of  his  debased  nature.  ReHgion  thus  con- 
tained the  changeless  truth  of  God's  essential  and  constant  rela- 
tion to  man.  The  main  arguments  for  this  general  view  have 
been :  The  logical  necessity  of  it  in  view  of  the  nature  of  God 
and  of  man  as  manifested  through  what  is  known  of  both  from 
the  Christian  revelation  and  the  Christian  religious  experience; 
The  historic  evidence  from  the  Bible;  The  evidence  of  a  primi- 
tive monotheism  in  the  lowest  forms  of  religion;  The  historic 
evidence  of  religious  degeneration  in  the  life  of  many  peoples. 
The  history  of  this  view  shows  a  diminishing  number  of  defenders 
and  a  diminishing  acceptance.  It  may  be  figured  as  a  wedge 
with  its  thick  end  in  the  past  and  diminishing  toward  the  present. 
The  view  of  Radical  Naturalism  may  be  represented  as  a 
wedge  placed  in  the  reverse  chronological  position,  growing  in 
acceptance  and  in  the  number  of  its  advocates  from  earlier  to 
later  times.  It  looks  upon  primitive  man  as  possessed  of  a  most 
limited  spiritual  capacity,  not  a  little  lower  than  the  angels,  but 
a  little  higher  than  the  beasts.  Under  the  stimulus  of  natural 
and  social  environment  he  gradually  developed  a  belief  in  the 
existence  of  an  order  of  being  different  from  himself  and  the  world 
of  his  daily  contacts.  From  a  crude  naturalistic  polytheism, 
through  the  passing  ages  he  slowly  advanced  to  a  more  or  less 
purely  conceived  monotheism  with  a  growing  ethical  content. 
The  significance  of  this  process  does  not  lie  in  its  grasp  upon  an 
eternal  objective  reality,  but  in  the  value  these  beliefs  may  have 
in  contributing  to  the  general  progress  of  culture,  quite  without 
relation  to  any  constant  reality  they  may  embody.  The  argu- 
ments in  favor  of  such  a  view  have  been :  —  Its  consonance  with 
the  general  concept  of  evolution  from  the  lower  to  the  higher, 
which  has  proved  so  serviceable  in  the  interpretation  of  the 
physical  and  biological  sciences;  The  evidence  from  archaeology 
indicating  the  cruder  and  cruder  nature  of  religious  observ- 
ances the  farther  back  historic  remains  are  traced;  The 
anthropological  investigations  pointing  toward  the  undeveloped 
structure  and  the  limited  capacity  of  original  man;  The  argu- 
ment from  philology  indicating  the  identification  of  the  names 
of  deities  with  the  names  of  natural  objects;  The  ethnological 
and  mythological  investigations  pointing  to  similar  cycles  of 


COMPARATIVE   RELIGION 


195 


belief  in  spite  of  race-peculiarities;  The  sociological  facts  indi- 
cating their  molding  influence  on  religious  concepts  and  suggest- 
ing that  religion  is  never  an  individual  but  always  a  social  matter; 
The  psychological  analysis  which  would  show  from  the  normal 
operations  of  the  human  mind  what  religious  notions  it  will 
form  in  reacting  on  its  environment. 

Among  those  who  have  held  to  this  general  way  of  thinking 
there  has  been  manifest  no  very  clear  agreement  as  to  just  what 
was  the  primitive  form  of  religion,  or  what  were  the  original 
impulses  leading  to  its  development.  As  to  the  latter,  some  have 
laid  stress  on  superstition,  and  have  conceived  that  the  process 
of  evolution  would  therefore  at  last  eliminate  religion  altogether 
from  the  race  and  deliver  man  into  the  clear  pure  light  of  science. 
Others  have  accented  the  function  of  rational  thought  in  the 
construction  of  the  object  of  religion,  and  have  believed  that  it 
will  finally  become  merged  in  a  rational  philosophy  or  a  utili- 
tarian ethics.  Still  others  have  traced  religion  to  an  emotional 
reaction  of  man  on  his  environment,  and  ascribe  to  it  a  certain 
permanent  aesthetic  value  in  the  development  of  his  nature. 

As  to  the  earliest  form  of  religion,  various  views  have  been  held 
which  can  also  be  placed  in  no  chronological  order  because 
they  have  been  contemporaneous.  Fetishism,  Spiritism,  Ani- 
mism, Naturism,  Totemism,  have  been  by  various  authors  argued 
for  as  representing  the  original  form  in  which  religion  realized 
itself. 

A  further  distinction  can  be  made  with  respect  to  the  different 
ways  in  which,  during  the  short  history  of  the  science,  the  primi- 
tive impulse,  or  motive,  leading  to  religion  has  been  conceived. 
Some  have  found  it  in  a  special  faculty  of  man,  others  in  fear, 
or  in  love,  or  in  a  sense  of  need,  or  in  scientific  curiosity,  or  in 
the  desire  to  gain  peculiar  control  over  others,  or  in  aesthetic 
delight,  or  in  the  impulse  to  philosophical  speculation. 

In  the  foregoing  the  effort  has  been  made  to  trace  the  main 
lines  of  the  development  of  the  two  contrasted  schools  of  the 
Radical  Supernaturalists  and  the  Radical  Naturalists  in  the 
historic  progress  of  the  Science  of  Religion.  For  some  years 
now  there  has  been  manifest  a  strong  tendency  on  the  part  of 
writers  in  this  field  to  seek  a  position  which  shall  somehow  com- 
bine whatever  of  truth  lies  in  the  contentions  of  these  two  war- 
ring radical  schools  of  thought.     This  effort  is  made  by  writers 


196  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

diflfering  widely  among  themselves  in  many  respects,  but  all 
intent  on  some  sort  of  a  synthesis  which  shall  be  truer  to  the  facts 
of  the  history  of  religion  than  either  of  the  others.  It  has  been 
felt  that  the  rigidity  of  the  radical  revelational  school  did  scant 
justice  to  the  facts  of  human  history,  while  the  radical  evolutional 
school  has  failed  to  account  adequately  for  the  outcome  of  the 
process.  Especially  has  it  been  thought  that  the  latter  has  not 
made  sufficient  room  in  its  theories  for  the  appearance  and  power 
of  great  historic  religious  personalities,  or  for  the  distinctive 
and  peculiar  unity  of  the  religious  consciousness  and  its  objective 
manifestations.  The  effort  is  accordingly  made  to  account  for 
these  results  by  recognizing  in  the  constitution  of  man  some  sort 
of  an  inherent  adjustment  to  environment,  which  brings  about 
in  him  psychic  reactions  which  on  their  inner  side  constitute 
religion;  and  by  discerning  some  sort  of  an  objective  reality, 
expressed  briefly  by  the  word  "  God,"  which,  through  something 
which  may  be  more  or  less  precisely  called  "  revelation,"  has 
conditioned  and  shaped  the  evolutionary  processes  of  religion  to 
an  increasingly  perfect  apprehension  of  a  veritable  divine  reality. 
Different  writers  express  this  general  view  very  differently  in 
accordance  with  the  range  of  their  investigations  and  their  own 
personal  religious  faith;  but  toward  some  such  general  method 
the  present  tendency  is  most  marked.* 

^  For  excellent  manuals  giving  a  general  survey  of  the  field  see  Lewis  H. 
Jordan,  Comparative  Religion,  its  Genesis  and  Growth  (1905)  and  Morris  Jastrow, 
The  Study  of  Religion  (1901).  The  former  is  especially  good  for  its  classified 
literature,  its  indexes,  and  its  history  of  the  science. 


THE   CONCEPTION   OF   MAN'S   PLACE   IN 
NATURE 

President  Ozora  Stearns  Davis,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

Chicago  Theological  Seminary 

The  purpose  of  this  paper  is  to  register  within  a  brief  compass 
the  general  changes  that  have  taken  place  during  the  past  three 
quarters  of  a  century  in  the  teachings  of  Theology  concerning 
man's  place  in  the  scale  of  being.  This  result  has  been  wrought 
out  in  the  collision  between  the  traditional  doctrines  of  Theology 
and  the  findings  of  Natural  Science.  It  is  impossible  to  examine 
the  shifting  movements  of  this  conflict.  We  can  consider  only 
the  outstanding  facts  and  give  attention  to  the  critical  moments. 

Christian  Theology  has  always  had  a  doctrine  of  the  natural 
order  and  of  the  relation  of  the  Creator  to  it,  both  in  the  initial 
act  by  which  the  natural  world  was  called  into  being,  and  in 
its  government  and  present  control  by  the  Lord  of  all  things. 
In  this  general  doctrine,  account  was  given  of  the  creation  of  the 
physical  world  including  man,  and  his  place  in  the  creation  was 
assigned  with  positive  confidence.  The  sacred  books  contained 
a  report  of  the  creation  of  all  things  in  the  beginning  by  God. 
These  records  were  not  criticised ;  ^  they  were  interpreted  with 
as  much  skill  and  insight  as  the  teachers  of  the  successive  Chris- 
tian generations  could  command.  Whether  in  the  Middle  Ages 
or  in  the  Reformation  period,  the  interpretation  of  the  creation 
narratives  in  the  Book  of  Genesis  was  strictly  and  literally  fol- 
lowed out.  The  great  dogmatists  put  it  into  their  "Sentences" 
and  "Systems";  Michelangelo  and  Raphael  painted  it  on  the 
ceiling  of  loggia  and  chapel.  The  existence  of  noxious  animals 
was  accounted  for  on  the  ground  of  human  sin.  As  to  the  dif- 
ferent species  in  the  animal  kingdom,  it  was  finally  taught  that 
each  was  created  in  its  identity  by  God,  that  all  were  named  by 

'  Augustine  laid  down  the  principle  in  his  comment  on  Gen.  2:  5,  "Noth- 
ing is  to  be  accepted  save  on  the  authority  of  Scripture,  since  greater  is  that 
authority  than  all  the  powers  of  the  human  mind." 

197 


198  RECENT  CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

Adam,  preserved  in  the  Ark,  distributed  anew  at  the  subsidence 
of  the  Deluge,  and  that  each  species  has  maintained  the  separate- 
ness  which  it  received  from  the  Creator's  hand.  Man  was  the 
crown  of  the  creation,  woman  was  taken  from  his  side  while  he 
slept,  and  the  human  species  was  ennobled  by  becoming  the 
recipient  of  the  supreme  love  and  grace  of  God  in  the  plan  of 
salvation.  There  was  but  slight  variation  in  the  uniformity 
with  which  these  positions  were  maintained.  So  Theology  had 
its  own  sacred  science  of  creation  and  its  definite  assignment 
of  man's  place  in  the  order  of  being.  It  did  not  refer  to  appro- 
priate sciences  either  the  right  or  authority  to  teach  the  truth  con- 
cerning value,  but  believed  its  own  records  to  be  adequate  and 
trustworthy,  and  sought  only  ingeniously  to  interpret  them  so 
that  the  unicorn,  the  cockatrice,  and  the  basilisk  should  be 
clearly  described,  and  man  be  set  in  his  unique  place  as  crown 
of  the  natural  order. 

We  cannot  now  trace  the  obscure  beginnings  and  gradual 
growth  of  those  causes  which  finally  resulted  in  the  outburst  of 
new  knowledge  and  theory  which  took  place  about  the  middle 
of  the  last  century.  Science  had  been  the  handmaid  of  Theology 
to  illustrate  the  benevolent  design  and  perfect  wisdom  of  the 
Creator  as  shown  in  the  natural  order,  and  the  Bridgewater 
Treatises  were  the  final  witness  to  the  earnestness  and  effective- 
ness of  that  service.  Theological  Natural  Science  began  to 
wane  in  influence  by  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

Concerning  the  specific  doctrine  which  has  been  at  the  center 
of  the  debate  for  over  half  a  century,  Mr.  Huxley  calls  it  "the 
Miltonic  hypothesis,"  *  because  in  the  seventeenth  century 
Milton  declared  the  immediate  creation  of  distinct  species  by 
God.  This  was  the  general  position  of  the  scientific  world  so 
long  as  Science  served  the  needs  of  Theology.  Linnaeus  adopted 
this ;  Cuvier  held  that  man  should  be  classified  under  a  unique 
category.  On  the  other  hand,  Lamarck  attempted  to  prove  that 
new  species  could  arise  from  old  ones  through  gradual  change. 

The  atmospheric  stress  growing  gradually  during  the  first 
half  of  the  century  broke  in  a  storm,  when,  after  a  period  of 
patient  and  exhaustive  research  covering  a  period  of  twenty 
years,  Charles  Darwin  not  only  defended  the  fact  of  the  origin 
of  higher  out  of  lower  species,  but  proposed  a  definite  theory  to 

*  See  J.  M.  Tyler,  Man  in  the  Light  of  Evolution,  1908,  p.  4. 


CONCEPTION  OF  MAN'S  PLACE  IN  NATURE     199 

account  for  it.  On  July  i,  1858,  papers  by  Darwin  and  Wallace 
were  read  before  the  Linnaean  Society  of  London  proposing  the 
hypothesis  which  furnished  the  title  for  the  book  of  the  former, 
The  Origin  of  Species  by  means  of  Natural  Selection,  published 
Nov.  24,  1859.  Mr,  Darwin's  book  was  one  of  the  most  sig- 
nificant ever  published  during  the  history  of  human  thinking. 
It  found  a  ready  and  waiting  world,  and  it  awakened  both  the 
ardent  championship  of  those  who  were  prepared  to  defend  it 
and  the  violent  hostility  of  those  who  saw  in  its  great  hypothesis 
the  subtle  and  deadly  foe  of  what  they  held  to  be  final  truth. 

The  attack  from  Theology  was  not  confined  to  any  country 
or  creed.  In  Europe  and  America  and  Australia  a  storm  of 
counter-argument  and  of  denunciation  came  from  both  Roman 
Catholic  and  Protestant  sources.  The  periodical  literature,  as 
well  as  that  of  a  more  permanent  character  from  the  years 
following  i860,  records  the  intense  and  often  very  bitter  contest. 
The  Bishop  of  Oxford  in  i860  declared  that  "the  principle 
of  natural  selection  is  absolutely  incompatible  with  the  word  of 
God."  *  Ridicule  was  poured  upon  the  theory  as  well  as  denun- 
ciation. For  a  time  it  seemed  as  if  Theology  had  but  one  voice 
and  one  reply.  The  current  conception  of  man,  created  in  the 
integrity  of  his  being  as  a  unique  species  from  the  hand  of  God, 
was  unable  to  live  with  the  notion  of  physical  man  descending  or 
ascending  from  lower  orders  of  life. 

Under  the  attack  of  Theology  and  the  inspiration  of  the  theory 
of  Mr.  Darwin,  eager  scientists  set  themselves  at  work,  and  the 
immutability  of  species  was  contradicted  from  every  side. 

In  1863  Mr.  Huxley  published  his  book  bearing  the  specific 
title  of  this  paper,  Man''s  Place  in  Nature.  Its  value  is  now 
chiefly  historical.  It  cut  squarely  across  the  theological-scien- 
tific teaching,  that  man  is  a  species  by  himself  and  immediately 
created  in  his  integrity  by  the  hand  of  God.  It  classified  man 
in  a  common  order  zoologically  with  the  apes,  and  defended  the 
position  that  man  had  been  evolved  from  the  lower  orders  of 
life,  although  Mr.  Huxley  did  not  accept  absolutely  Mr.  Dar- 
win's hypothesis.  Mr.  Huxley  recognized  the  vast  difference 
between  civilized  man  and  the  brutes,  and  said  plainly  that  man, 
"  whether  from  them  or  not,  is  assuredly  not  o/them."  ^ 

If  we  take  our  standpoint  midway  in  the  half-century  since 

*  Quarterly  Review,  July,  i860.       '  Man's  Place  in  Nature,  1900,  p.  152. 


200  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

1859,  we  obtain  a  view  of  the  general  issue  which  is  very  clear 
in  the  words  of  John  Fiske,  who  wrote  as  follows :  "  Zoologically 
speaking,  man  can  no  longer  be  regarded  as  a  creature  apart  by 
himself.  We  cannot  erect  an  order  on  purpose  to  contain  him, 
as  Cuvier  tried  to  do;  we  cannot  even  make  a  separate  family 
for  him.  Man  is  not  only  a  vertebrate,  a  mammal,  and  a  pri- 
mate, but  he  belongs  as  a  genus  to  the  catarrhine  family  of 
apes."  "Such  is  the  conclusion  to  which  the  scientific  world 
has  come  within  a  quarter  of  a  century  from  the  publication  of 
Mr.  Darwin's  Origin  of  Species;  and  there  is  no  more  reason 
for  supposing  that  this  conclusion  will  ever  be  gainsaid  than  for 
supposing  that  the  Copernican  astronomy  will  sometime  be 
overthrown  and  the  concentric  spheres  of  Dante's  heaven  re- 
instated in  the  minds  of  men."  *  Thus  at  the  point  midway 
between  our  time  and  the  date  of  Mr.  Darwin's  hypothesis, 
we  find  an  observer  of  such  wide  range  as  Mr.  Fiske  declaring 
without  question  the  universal  acceptance  of  the  fact  that  man 
is  derived  zoologically  from  the  lower  orders  of  life. 

Theology  attempted  at  first  to  deny  the  fact  of  the  derivation 
of  the  physical  body  of  man  from  lower  orders  of  life,  and  attacked 
both  the  theory  accounting  for  it  and  the  fact  itself.  At  the  out- 
set it  ranged  itself  squarely  in  battle-line  against  the  new  position 
taken  by  Science.  As  time  went  on,  however,  there  gathered  to 
the  support  of  the  natural  scientists  not  only  a  great  body  of 
trained  investigators  who  had  no  regard  for  the  teachings  of 
traditional  theology,  but  also  men  who  by  birth  and  training 
were  generally  reckoned  among  the  sympathizers  with  the  theo- 
logians. There  was  a  general  softening  of  the  temper  of  the 
controversy,  and  from  both  sides  came  a  somewhat  more  tolerant 
and  less  bitter  expression  of  view. 

After  the  first  surprise  and  shock  were  over,  the  question  arose : 
What  if,  after  all,  the  doctrine  of  the  derivation  of  species  is 
true?  Can  the  old  faith  live  with  the  new  knowledge?  Theo- 
logians began  to  take  into  their  reckoning  the  fact  that  in  denying 
the  conclusions  of' Science  on  this  point  it  was  possible  that  their 
opponents  might  be  right  after  all.  An  illustration  of  this  posi- 
tion we  find  in  the  book  of  George  Matheson,  Can  the  Old  Faith 
Live  with  the  New  ?  or,  the  Problem  of  Evolution  and  Revelation. 
The   evidence   of   Matheson's  book   is   peculiarly   significant, 

'  John  Fiske,  The  Destiny  of  Man,  1887,  pp.  19-20. 


CONCEPTION  OF  MAN'S  PLACE  IN  NATURE     201 

since  it  comes  from  a  period  almost  midway  between  1859  and 
the  present.  It  was  published  in  the  spring  of  1885.  In  one 
sense  it  was  not  the  first  significant  attempt  to  find  common 
ground  for  Natural  Science  and  Christian  Theology.  Henry 
Drummond's  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  World  had  been  pub- 
lished in  1883  and  was  widely  known.  The  two  books  are, 
however,  entirely  different.  Matheson  did  not  commit  him- 
self to  the  theory  of  evolution,  nor  did  he  attempt  to  build  up  a 
theology  upon  it.  His  method  was  analytical.  The  upshot  of 
the  comparison  instituted  was  the  affirmation  that  the  results 
of  scientific  investigation  do  not  invalidate  the  essential  doctrines 
of  the  Christian  religion.  On  the  contrary  Theology  receives 
new  light  and  real  reenforcement  from  the  new  Science.  Up 
to  this  time  probably  no  single  contribution  had  been  more  sig- 
nificant for  the  growing  reconciliation  between  the  hostile  camps. 
Theology  began  to  take  the  position  that  its  idea  of  God  is  large 
and  flexible  enough  to  find  hospitable  welcome  for  truth  from 
whatever  source  it  may  be  received. 

It  is  quite  impossible  within  the  compass  of  this  paper  to 
trace  with  any  semblance  of  comprehensiveness  the  changing 
attitude  of  Theology  toward  Science  during  the  last  twenty-five 
years  in  the  particular  respect  of  man's  place  in  nature.  There 
have  been  also  changes  in  the  scientific  theory,  for  Darwin's 
hypothesis  has  not  gone  unchallenged.  The  general  movement, 
however,  has  been  from  Theology  toward  Science  and  not 
vice  versa. 

In  1893,  shortly  after  the  death  of  the  author,  appeared  a 
volume  from  the  pen  of  Professor  Lewis  F.  Stearns  entitled 
Present-Day  Theology.  It  represents  his  thought  at  about  the 
year  1889.  He  takes  up  the  doctrine  of  evolution  represented 
by  the  teachings  of  Darwin  and  finds  that  as  an  explanation  of 
the  origin  of  the  nature  of  man  it  is  inconsistent  with  the  teachings 
of  the  Bible.  He  believes  that  evolution  is  applicable  to  exten- 
sive tracts  of  nature  and  holds  his  criticism  of  it  with  great 
reserve,  not  being  willing  to  stake  the  truth  of  Christianity  upon 
the  decision  of  such  a  question.  Positively  he  sums  up  his  view 
as  follows:  "Man's  lower  nature  is  the  result  of  evolution  by 
descent  from  the  animals,  but  his  higher  spiritual  principle  is 
due  to  a  creative  act  of  God,  supplementing  the  evolution  by 
second  causes."  ' 

'  Stearns,  Present-Day  Theology,  1893,  p.  297. 


202  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

Against  such  a  view  as  this  there  is  nothing  to  be  found  in  the 
Bible.  Indeed,  the  very  account  of  the  creation  of  man  in  Gene- 
sis seems  to  warrant  something  of  this  sort,  for  it  distinctly  says 
that  the  man  was  made  from  the  dust  of  the  ground  and  that  into 
his  nostrils  God  breathed  the  breath  of  life.  It  makes  little  dif- 
ference whether  or  not  we  are  descended  from  the  lower  animals 
on  the  physical  side  of  our  nature.  The  essential  thing  is  the 
spiritual  part  of  our  being  which  is  ours  by  the  creative  act  of 
God.  With  this  statement  it  is  interesting  to  compare  the  posi- 
tion of  John  Fiske,  who  said  in  1887:  "The  Platonic  view  of 
the  soul,  as  a  spiritual  substance,  an  effluence  from  Godhead, 
which  under  certain  conditions  becomes  incarnated  in  perishable 
forms  of  matter,  is  doubtless  the  view  most  consonant  with  the 
present  state  of  our  knowledge."  * 

Roman  Catholic  Theology  must  remain  practically  untouched 
by  modern  Science  so  long  as  the  scholastic  masters  of  the  Middle 
Ages  are  the  authorities  in  the  seminaries.  Confessional  The- 
ology also  could  not  be  expected  to  show  any  response  to  the 
spirit  or  the  findings  of  Science.  We  are  not  surprised,  there- 
fore, to  see  the  advance  registered  in  the  schools  of  academic 
freedom. 

In  1898  Professor  William  Newton  Clarke  issued  a  second 
edition  of  his  Outline  of  Christian  Theology,  the  influence  of 
which  has  been  widespread.  Treating  the  matter  of  the  ori- 
gin of  the  human  race,  Professor  Clarke  shows  that  it  is  suffi- 
cient for  Theology  to  know  that  the  real  origin  of  man  is  in  God. 
Formerly  Theology  thought  it  necessary  to  offer  an  explanation 
of  the  origin  of  the  world  and  of  mankind.  This  it  found  in  its 
sacred  books.  There  has  come  about  a  new  conception  of  the 
unity  of  all  knowledge  and  truth  is  recognized  in  nature  as  well 
as  in  revelation.  So  the  time  has  come  when  Theology  gives 
over  to  Anthropology  and  its  kindred  sciences  the  matter  of  the 
origin  of  mankind.  Theology  accepts  the  results  of  these 
sciences  in  their  appropriate  fields,  as  follows:  "If  Theology 
remands  the  question  of  the  origin  of  the  human  race  to  An- 
thropology and  its  kindred  sciences,  it  will  receive  from  them  an 
evolutionary  answer.  Man,  it  will  be  told,  is  a  part  of  the  one 
great  system  in  which  the  eternal  creative  power  and  purpose 
have  been  progressively  manifested.     Man  is  the  crown  of  the 

*  Fiske,  The  Destiny  of  Man,  1887,  p.  42. 


CONCEPTION  OF  MAN'S  PLACE  IN  NATURE     203 

system.  '  Nature  has  always  been  in  travail,'  perpetually  bring- 
ing forth  something  higher  than  she  had  produced  before,  and 
the  end  of  this  long  course  of  production  is  man,  a  spirit  capable 
of  communing  with  his  holy  and  gracious  Creator.  In  the  entire 
process  the  crowning  conception,  man,  has  been  always  in  view, 
and  toward  him  the  great  movement  has  steadily  advanced. 
Man  himself  is  not  yet  complete,  however,  for  his  powers  are 
still  unfolding  and  increasing,  through  the  long  course  of  ex- 
perience. .  .  .  Man,  the  crown  of  the  process,  is  no  mere 
animal,  but  a  spiritual  being  of  vast  powers,  high  destinies,  and 
incomparable  needs,  whose  life  in  God  is  religion."  ^ 

Professor  Clarke  takes  up  the  thought  that,  although  the  the- 
ory of  evolution  may  thus  account  for  the  origin  of  the  human 
body,  it  is  necessary  to  posit  an  act  of  special  creation  to  account 
for  the  human  soul.  So  long  as  the  freedom  and  the  power  of 
God  are  maintained,  special  creation  is  not  to  be  ruled  out; 
but  as  the  sweep  of  the  progressive  method  of  evolution  is  ex- 
tended, it  becomes  more  probable  that  acts  of  special  creation 
are  not  necessary.  This  does  not  exclude  God  from  the  world, 
but  rather  makes  his  presence  and  power  more  evident,  as  we 
see  his  activity  revealed  in  the  universal  process.  This  changed 
view  of  origins  does  not  alter  Theology  essentially,  for  God 
and  religion  remain  the  same.  This  one  thing  is  certain,  that 
man  is  both  a  religious  and  a  sinful  being,  and  that  the  God 
and  Father  of  Jesus  is  the  God  that  he  needs  to  know  and  love. 
This  fundamental  fact  is  not  changed  by  the  findings  of  modern 
Science. 

Thus  Professor  Clarke  opens  the  way  for  the  long  step  from 
the  position  occupied  by  Professor  Stearns,  which  is  taken  with- 
out hesitation  by  Professor  Beckwith  in  the  following  para- 
graph: "As  to  the  use  that  is  to  be  made  of  evolution:  it  is 
to  be  frankly  and  heartily  accepted  as  furnishing  an  interpre- 
tative principle  to  all  those  events  with  which  Theology  is  con- 
cerned. The  bearing  of  this  law  is  evident  in  two  directions. 
First,  in  respect  to  the  world  itself.  All  that  is,  is  to  be  viewed 
as  a  becoming.  So  far  as  creation  and  the  order  of  the  world 
have  significance  for  the  theologian,  evolution  is  the  key  by 
which  the  meaning  of  these  realities  is  to  be  conceived  of.  From 
the  scope  of  this  law  it  will  not  do  to  except  man  in  his  constitu- 
'  Clarke,  An  Outline  of  Christian  Theology,  1898,  p.  224. 


204  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

tion  or  origin.  We  cannot  declare  that  man's  body  has  come 
about  by  evolution,  but  not  his  mental,  moral,  and  religious 
capacity."  * 

In  December,  1906,  Professor  William  Adams  Brown  pub- 
lished Christian  Theology  in  Outline,  in  which  he  takes  the  posi- 
tion that  "  any  view  of  the  origin  of  man  which  is  consistent  with 
his  divine  sonship  and  immortal  destiny  satisfies  the  require- 
ments of  Christian  faith."  He  distinguishes  between  the  scien- 
tific, the  philosophical,  and  the  theological  interest  in  man's 
origin.  Science  is  concerned  with  the  way  in  which  he  came 
into  being  and  his  relation  to  the  beings  that  preceded  and 
followed  him.  Philosophy  comes  in  with  its  conception  of  the 
universe,  by  which  it  seeks  to  explain  the  facts  reported  by 
Science  as  a  harmonious  whole.  Theology  uses  the  results  of 
both  Science  and  Philosophy,  but  its  interest  in  them  is  only 
indirect.  It  is  not  essentially  dependent  upon  the  findings  of 
either.  Nothing  yet  brought  to  light  by  Natural  Science  has 
invalidated  the  fundamental  Christian  doctrines  of  the  spiritual 
capacity  and  the  divine  destiny  of  man.  As  a  creature  of  God 
he  is  a  part  of  nature  and  shares  its  finite  and  dependent  exist- 
ence; as  a  child  of  God  man  is  exalted  above  nature  by  virtue 
of  the  reason  and  freedom  which  he  shares  with  God.^ 

It  would  be  far  from  an  accurate  report  were  we  to  leave  out 
of  account  the  opposition  to  the  doctrines  of  Natural  Science 
regarding  the  origin  of  man  which  still  persists  in  some  degree. 
Nor  has  the  line  of  advance  which  we  have  been  able  to  trace 
been  steady.  In  general,  however,  Theology,  so  far  as  it  has  been 
open  to  the  influence  of  modern  Science,  first  opposed  its  Scrip- 
tures, interpreted  literally,  to  the  new  theories.  Its  attitude 
was  bitterly  polemical.  Gradually  it  became  conciliatory  and 
more  friendly,  appropriating  within  narrow  limits  the  findings 
of  Science.  It  seems  now  to  have  wrought  out  a  tenable  doctrine 
regarding  its  sacred  books  and  the  report  that  they  render  con- 
cerning the  origin  of  man. 

'  Beckwith,  Realities  of  Christian  Theology,  1906,  p.  11. 
^  Christian  Theology  in  Outline,  1906,  pp.  237-241. 


APOLOGETICS 

Professor  Arthur  Lincoln  Gillett,  D.D. 
Hartford  Theological  Seminary 

The  first  writer  to  give  to  Apologetics  a  distinct  place  in  the 
family  of  the  theological  sciences  was  G.  J.  Planck  in  his  Einlei- 
tung  in  die  theologischen  Wissenschaften  (1794),  but  his  some- 
what bizarre  classification  of  the  discipline  under  Exegesis 
would  lead  the  science  to  look  more  naturally  to  Schleier- 
macher  as  its  godfather,  who  in  his  Kurze  Darstellung  des  theolo- 
gischen Studiums  (2te  Ausg.  1830)  classified  it  with  Philosophical 
Theology.  It  thus  appears  that,  while  from  the  earliest  Christian 
times  there  is  much  apologetic  material,  the  recognition  of  a 
specific  science  came  at  about  the  time  Hartford  Seminary  was 
founded.  For  fifteen  or  twenty  years,  led  by  Sack,  there  was 
vigorous  discussion  in  Germany  as  to  the  precise  scope  and 
encyclopedic  classification  of  Christian  Apologetics,  and  even 
at  the  present  time  there  is  no  unanimity  of  opinion  in  respect 
to  these  matters,  though  it  is  generally  conceded  that  its  place  is 
somewhere  under  the  general  head  of  Systematics,  and  that  its 
scope  is  the  scientific  justification  of  the  truth  of  Christianity. 

Apart  from  these  rather  technical  and  academic  considerations, 
the  last  seventy-five  years  have  been  notable  ones  in  the  history  of 
Apologetics.  The  diff'erence  between  the  political,  social,  and  in- 
tellectual conditions  in  England  and  on  the  European  continent 
during  the  first  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century,  make  it  best 
in  this  review  to  trace  separately  the  history  of  England  and 
Germany  down  to  about  1870,  letting  England  stand  as  repre- 
sentative of  Great  Britain  and  America,  and  Germany  serve  to 
represent  the  European  continent.  Later  than  about  1880  the 
interchange  of  ideas  between  the  scholars  of  dififerent  nation- 
alities makes  such  dfstinction  less  noteworthy. 

In  spite  of  the  differences  referred  to,  the  chief  incentive  to 
apologetic  work  in  both  England  and  Europe  during  the  first 
part  of  the  nineteenth  century  was  the  same.  On  both  sides  of  the 
North  Sea  the  eighteenth  century  had  come  to  challenge  sharply 

205 


2o6  RECENT  CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

the  supernatural  authority  of  the  Christian  revelation  and  to 
resent  the  demand  that  it  be  accepted  on  that  basis.  This 
challenge  voiced  itself  through  the  Skepticism  of  the  Encyclo- 
pedists in  France,  culminating  in  the  Atheism  of  the  French 
Revolution;  through  the  Wolfian  Rationalism  of  the  German 
Aufklarung,  eventuating  in  the  Critical  Philosophy  of  Kant; 
through  the  denial  of  the  necessity  or  possibility  of  supernatural 
revelation  by  the  Deists  of  England,  leading  to  the  "academic 
skepticism"  of  Hume  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  constructive 
apologetic  of  Paley  on  the  other. 

As  a  key  to  the  whole  historic  development  it  is  vi^ell  to  fix  our 
eyes  for  a  moment  on  the  great  peculiarity  of  Christianity  which 
has  determined  both  the  criticism  and  defense  of  the  Christian 
religion.  As  Eucken  {Der  Wahrheitsgehalt  der  Religion,  1901) 
has  strikingly  brought  out,  Christianity  combines  within  itself  in  a 
peculiar  way  speculative  and  historic  elements.  It  believes  that 
it  possesses  an  absolute  and  eternal  truth  as  to  the  nature  of  God 
and  his  relation  to  man  and  the  world,  and  it  believes  also  that  the 
complete  expression  of  this  timeless  truth  is  revealed  in  the  his- 
toric Christ,  appearing  in  time.  In  the  possession  of  this  double 
faith  lies  both  the  peculiar  strength  of  the  religion  and  its  pecuHar 
liability  to  attack.  Apologetics,  accordingly,  always  finds  itself 
concerned  with  upholding  both  the  ideal  and  the  historic  con- 
tent of  Christianity. 

Returning  to  the  development  of  apologetic  thought  in  England, 
we  find  that  these  two  elements  appear  respectively  in  Paley' s 
Christian  Evidences  and  his  Natural  Theology.  While  the 
former  was  published  in  1794  and  the  latter  in  1802  they  were  for 
some  time  after  1834  considered  to  be  of  well-nigh  authoritative 
excellence.  Paley's  purpose  in  the  first  work  was  to  show  the 
trustworthiness  and  uniqueness  of  the  New  Testament  miracles, 
and  to  draw  from  this  fact  the  conclusion  that  their  supernatural 
character  indicated  the  divine  nature  and  the  divine  authority 
of  Him  who  wrought  them.  The  second  work  strove  to  prove 
from  the  evidence  of  design  in  nature,  after  the  analogy  of  a 
watch,  the  intelligence  and  character  of  God.  His  work  was  a 
brilliant  summary  of  the  replies  to  the  Deists,  and,  on  the  basis  of 
the  commonly  accepted  premises,  may  fairly  be  said  to  be  con- 
clusive. He  aimed  thus  to  reestablish  the  divine  authority  of 
revealed  truth  on  the  basis  of  the  demonstrable  nature  of  God  and 


APOLOGETICS  207 

his  relation  to  the  world  and  to  man,  and  on  the  basis  of  the  super- 
natural attestation  of  miracle  to  the  revelation  through  Jesus 
Christ. 

With  respect  to  the  first  of  these  positions,  quite  generally 
accepted  in  England  since  Locke's  time  and  elaborated  in  the 
Bridgewater  Treatises  (1833-1840),  Sir  William  Hamilton, 
under  Kant's  influence,  published  in  1829  his  article  on  TJie 
Philosophy  of  the  Unconscious  which,  as  later  elaborated  in 
publications  and  lectures,  asserted  the  undemonstrability  of  God 
because  of  the  relativity  of  human  knowledge;  doing  this  in  the 
interests  of  upholding  the  assurance  respecting  Him  based  on  the 
judgments  of  the  moral  nature.  This  position  was  elaborated  by 
Mansel  in  his  Limits  of  Religious  Thought  (1855),  esteemed  as  an 
apologetic  masterpiece.  In  this  work  he  would  establish  the 
authority  of  Revelation  by  excluding  from  both  rational  demon- 
stration and  rational  criticism  the  fundamental  Christian  doc- 
trines, unintentionally  paving  the  way,  thus,  for  the  Agnosticism 
of  Herbert  Spencer  in  his  First  Principles  (1862).  Paley's 
conclusions  were  thus  sharply  criticised  on  their  epistemological 
side  by  friends  and  foes.  There  arose  a  still  further  criticism  of 
his  work,  in  respect  to  the  validity  of  his  analogies,  by  those  who 
had  come  to  feel  the  force  of  the  argument  of  Darwin  in  his 
Origin  of  Species  (1859)  —  for  example,  Romanes  and  John 
Fiske.  Not  mechanism  but  life  is  the  key  to  the  universe,  not 
design  but  adaptation.  It  was  apparent  that  the  argument  must 
be  abandoned,  or  developed  along  different  lines.  This  latter 
has  been  done  carefully  with  many  variations  as  respects  both 
epistemology  and  analogy,  in  the  elaborated  literature  on  Theism, 
from  Flint's  Theism  (1877)  to  Bowne's  Personalism  (1908). 

With  respect  to  the  argument  of  Paley's  Christian  Evidences 
the  outcome  was  threefold  —  since  his  time,  as  Oman  remarks, 
nobody  has  seriously  accused  the  Apostles  of  lack  of  good  faith; 
second,  the  essentially  supernatural  character  of  miracles,  and 
especially  their  value  as  authoritative  proofs  of  the  truth  of  the 
content  of  the  Christian  religion,  have  come  to  have  a  diminishing 
cogency,  because  of  doubt  as  to  their  historic  uniqueness,  because 
the  necessary  connection  between  the  supernaturalness  of  an 
event  and  the  truth  of  what  it  accompanies  has  seemed  less  obvi- 
ous than  formerly,  because  an  evolutional  science  has  so  widened 
the  concept  of  natural  law  that  their  essentially  supernatural 


2o8  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

character  has  appeared  less  easy  of  demonstration;  third,  the 
modern  tendency  on  the  part  of  those  in  sympathy  with  Paley's 
purpose  is  to  center  thought  in  the  personahty  of  Christ  as  super- 
natural and  to  conceive  of  miracles  as  the  normal  efflux  of  his 
nature.  The  development  of  thought  is  suggested  by  the  names 
of  Bushnell  {Nature  and  the  Supernatural,  1858),  Mozley 
(Bampton  Lectures,  1865),  Forrest  {Christ  of  History  and  Ex- 
perience, 1897,  and  The  Authority  of  Christ,  1906). 

When  we  turn  now  from  England  to  Germany,  we  find  an 
altogether  different  method  of  development.  Carl  Schwarz,  in 
his  Geschichte  der  neuesten  Theologie  (1856),  fixes  the  year  1835 
as  the  beginning  of  a  new  epoch  in  theology.  He  selects  this 
date  because  in  that  year  appeared  Strauss's  Life  of  Jesus  which, 
he  holds,  crystallized  out  the  thought  of  the  age  and  brought  it 
to  self-consciousness.  The  death  of  Hegel  in  1831,  followed  by 
the  publication  of  his  writings,  the  death  of  Schleiermacher  in 
1834,  and  the  pubhcation  in  1835  of  Baur's  Christliche  Reli- 
gions philosophie,  still  further  mark  this  as  an  epochal  period  in 
German  theological  thought.  The  fifty  years  preceding  had 
been  a  period  of  extraordinary  intellectual  activity.  Kant's  es- 
timate of  his  own  work  as  shifting  the  center  of  the  universe  of 
thought  in  a  way  comparable  to  the  altering  of  the  center  of  the 
solar  system  by  Copernicus  had  in  large  measure  justified  itself. 
There  had  followed  a  period  made  notable  in  the  whole  history 
of  philosophical  thinking  by  the  variety  and  brilliancy  of  the 
many  efforts  to  adjust  thought  to  the  new  center  and  to  reinter- 
pret the  nature  of  God.  The  rapid  development  of  Histor- 
ical Criticism,  directed  partly  by  the  speculative  and  partly  by 
the  scientific  impulse,  had  produced  a  similar  indefiniteness  and 
uncertainty  in  respect  to  the  historic  element  in  Christianity. 

While  in  England  the  battle  with  Deism  had  been  fought  out 
by  means  of  a  frontal  attack  on  the  old  lines,  in  Germany  the  old 
Rationalism  was  outflanked  by  a  speculative  and  historical  re- 
interpretation  of  Christianity.  While  in  England  men  tried 
to  reestablish  the  truth  of  the  Christian  religion  on  the  basis  of  a 
supernatural  authority  to  which  the  human  mind  must  bow, 
in  Germany  the  effort  was  made  to  exhibit  the  winsomeness  of 
Christian  truth  by  a  new  analysis  of  the  nature  of  Christianity 
and  by  exhibiting  the  attractiveness  of  both  its  philosophical  and 
historical  elements. 


APOLOGETICS  209 

To  do  this  was  the  aim  of  both  Hegel  and  Schleiermacher,  and 
their  respective  schools,  in  the  field  of  Apologetics.  Their 
differences  are  of  course  noteworthy;  but  their  similarities  are 
still  more  remarkable.  Both  strove  to  break  down  the  old  hard 
and  fast  distinction  between  Supernaturalism  and  Rationalism, 
whether  of  the  orthodox  or  unorthodox  type.  -Both  sought  a  new 
evaluation  of  religion,  and  would  found  on  this  a  new  estimate  of 
Christianity.  Both  made  the  central  point  of  religion  the  inner 
life  of  the  man.  Schleiermacher  analyzes  the  human  conscious- 
ness and  finds  it  incomplete  without  God,  Hegel  analyzes  the 
idea  of  God  and  finds  the  human  consciousness  necessary  for  its 
completion.  Both  agree  that  the  religious  consciousness  reveals 
an  eternal  relation  of  God  and  man.  Both  are  comparatively 
indifferent  to  the  accuracy  of  the  historical  narratives  respecting 
Christ,  and  yet  both  agree  as  to  His  supreme  religious  significance. 
Hegel  looks  on  Him  as  the  presentation  in  forms  of  the  under- 
standing of  the  absolute  truth  of  the  reason,  that  God  and  man 
are  essentially  one;  Schleiermacher,  as  one  through  whom  the 
Christian  consciousness  attains  to  the  sense  of  oneness  with  God. 
Neither  will  draw  a  sharp  line  between  the  natural  and  the  super- 
natural. Hegel's  attitude  must  be  declared  to  be  pantheistic, 
and  Schleiermacher  says  he  will  raise  no  objection  if  his  view 
is  called  pantheism. 

The  apologetic  development  in  Germany  since  1834  has  been 
along  lines  suggested  by  the  work  of  these  two  great  thinkers. 
It  has,  throughout,  the  following  five  common  elements,  as 
respects  both  method  and  goal:  (i)  the  effort  to  ascertain  the 
essential  nature  of  religion,  using  as  a  starting-point  the  examina- 
tion of  the  religious  consciousness,  both  by  psychological  analysis 
and  historical  investigation;  and  to  uphold  the  validity  of  the 
objective  reference  of  these  subjective  states;  (2)  the  interpreta- 
tion of  the  peculiarly  Christian  consciousness  in  the  light  of  the 
analysis  of  the  religious  consciousness  in  general,  and  the  demon- 
stration therefrom  that  Christianity  attains  the  goal  of  religion; 
(3)  the  definition  of  God,  the  object  of  religion  in  general  and 
of  Christianity  in  particular,  in  the  light  of  this  analysis ;  (4)  the 
avoidance  of  any  sharp  contrast  between  the  natural  and  the 
supernatural ;  (5)  the  maintaining  of  such  a  view  as  to  the  historic 
Christ  as  will  leave  freedom  for  the  critical  examination  of  both 
the  Old  and  the  New  Testament.     Schultz,  for  example,  in  his 


2IO  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

Apologetics  (tr.  1905)  gives  it  as  the  task  of  Apologetics  "  (i)  to 
understand  the  nature  and  claims  of  religion,  (2)  to  comprehend 
the  historical  phenomena  of  religion,  (3)  to  exhibit  the  nature 
and  perfection  of  Christianity."  These  five  elements  represent 
the  different  moments  in  what  would  generally  be  recognized  as 
the  "modern  Apologetic,"  not  only  in  Germany,  but  in  other 
countries  as  well. 

Let  us  then  turn  to  examine  briefly  a  few  of  the  many 
phases  through  which  each  of  these  points  has  passed  in  its 
evolutionary  process. 

With  respect  to  the  first  element  mentioned  above,  that  as  to 
the  nature  of  religion,  there  have  developed  three  distinctive 
lines  of  interpretation  corresponding  to  the  three  "faculties" 
of  the  human  mind  —  intellect,  feeling,  and  will.  The  school  of 
Hegel  finds  the  essence  of  religion  primarily  in  the  intellect,  that 
of  Schleiermacher  in  the  feeling,  and  that  of  Ritschl  in  the  moral 
nature.  There  are  others  who  seek  for  the  nature  of  religion 
rather  in  some  synthesis  of  its  historic  manifestations  than  in  the 
analysis  of  its  specific  character.  As  representatives  of  these 
four  schools  may  be  mentioned  Edward  Caird,  Alexander 
Schweizer,  Wilhelm  Hermann,   Otto  Pfieiderer. 

With  respect  to  the  second  element  mentioned  above,  the 
nature  of  the  Christian  religion  and  its  ultimate  truthfulness,  it  is 
evident  that  the  content  and  the  validity  of  these  factors  will  be 
determined,  in  obvious  ways,  by  the  view  held  as  to  the  nature 
of  religion  in  general.  But  the  most  striking  and  characteristic 
feature  of  the  whole  development  is  the  steady  increase  of  the 
tendency  to  fix  as  the  central  point  the  experience  of  the  indi- 
vidual Christian,  and  to  insist  that  in  this  experience  will  come  to 
the  Christian,  as  is  the  case  with  all  experience,  the  self-eviden- 
cing of  the  truth  of  the  Christian  religion.  Considerable  variety 
of  opinion  has  been  manifest  as  to  just  what  is  the  nature  of 
the  peculiarly  Christian  experience,  as  to  the  range  of  truth 
to  which  it  can  legitimately  bear  testimony,  and  as  to  its  logical 
efficacy  with  one  who  is  not  a  Christian.  Frank  {System  der 
christlichen  Gewissheit,  1870-84)  conceives  the  central  experience 
to  be  that  of  conversion  and  regeneration,  and  believes  that  from 
it  may  properly  be  deduced  the  truth  of  the  principal  Christian 
doctrines.  He  denies  to  this  evidence  apologetic  significance, 
because  it  cannot  be  transmitted  to  any  one  who  has  not  himself 


APOLOGETICS  211 

had  the  experience.  Ihmels  {Wahrheitsgewissheit,  1901),  in 
general  sympathy  with  Frank,  draws  the  distinction  between 
Heilsgewissheit  and  Wahrheitsgewissheit,  and  believes  that  while 
both  rest  on  the  fundamental  and  peculiar  Christian  experience, 
the  latter  is  transmissible.  Wendt  {Erfahrimgsheweis,  1897) 
finds  the  peculiarity  of  the  Christian  experience  to  consist  in  the 
consciousness  of  a  new  moral  power ;  and,  since  it  is  on  the  plane 
of  the  universal  moral  nature,  ascribes  to  it  at  least  a  limited 
cogency  even  with  one  who  has  not  had  it.  These  writers  rep- 
resenting different  phases  of  general  theological  thought  simply 
illustrate  what  is  a  characteristic  feature  of  the  whole  movement. 

With  respect  to  the  third  point  it  is  sufficient  to  observe  that 
the  followers  of  Hegel  have  tended  to  interpret  God  metaphys- 
ically, the  followers  of  Schleiermacher  more  or  less  mystically, 
and  those  of  Ritschl  to  protest  against  both  metaphysics  and  mys- 
ticism, and  to  base  knowledge  of  God  on  judgments  of  value. 

The  question  as  to  the  relation  of  the  natural  and  supernatural 
has  found  its  crux  in  the  view  held  as  to  the  nature  and  reality  of 
revelation.  In  general  the  movement  has  been  increasingly  to 
consider  religion  and  revelation  as  necessary  correlatives  and 
Christianity  true,  as  by  Kaftan  {Truth  of  Christianity,  tr.  1894), 
because  it  is  revelation  —  the  medium  of  revelation  being  dif- 
ferently conceived  as  intellectual  judgment,  spiritual  illumina- 
tion, ethical  demands,  or  historic  process.  The  conclusions  held 
as  to  the  two  preceding  points  have  been  conditioned  in  large 
measure  by  philosophical  presuppositions,  or,  as  James  would 
say,  by  individual  temperament. 

There  remains  then  to  mention  the  question  as  to  Christ,  the 
individual's  relation  to  Him,  and  His  relation  to  the  Jesus  of  the 
Gospels.  The  preceding  have  been  questions  of  Philosophical 
Apologetics,  this  is  in  the  sphere  of  Historic  Apologetics.  Modern 
Apologetics,  in  distinction  from  the  old  Apologetics  of  the  first  part 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  has  been  disposed  to  treat  as  outside  its 
scope  the  historical  investigations  of  the  New  Testament  critics, 
and  has  sought  a  position  that  would  allow  freedom  both  as  to 
the  miraculous  elements  of  the  Gospel  story  and  the  precision 
of  the  historical  details  of  Jesus'  life.  There  has  been  general 
agreement  with  Schleiermacher' s  position  that,  if  it  were  possible 
for  a  man  to  feel  himself  in  fellowship  with  God  in  any  other  way, 
he  could  not  be  called  a  Christian  unless  this  consciousness  of 


212  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

fellowship  were  somehow  mediated  by  Jesus  Christ.  This  puts 
the  center  of  Christie  Apologetics  in  the  consciously  experienced 
relation  of  the  believer  to  Christ.  But  this  point  of  view  suggests 
three  questions ;  How  shall  Christ  be  conceived  ?  How  shall  the 
relationship  be  conceived?  What  is  the  assurance  of  a  reality 
corresponding  to  this  experienced  relationship? 

Dorner  (System  of  Christian  Doctrine,  tr.  1880),  in  the  face  of 
these  questions,  sets  Apologetics  to  the  task  of  proving  the  neces- 
sity of  the  appearing  in  the  world  of  Jesus  Christ  the  God-man. 
Though  Christ  is  the  redeemer  from  sin,  it  would  be  impossible 
to  prove  the  necessity  of  Christ's  coming  to  redeem  from  sin, 
unless  it  be  supposed  that  sin  is  necessary,  which  would  impugn 
the  character  of  God.  Dorner  would  accordingly  prove  from 
an  analysis  of  the  nature  of  God  and  man  that  the  incarnation  is 
necessary  for  the  full  realization  of  both.  This  being  proved, 
freedom  is  gained  in  the  interpretation  of  the  Gospel  narratives. 
Frank,  followed  by  Stearns  {Evidence  of  Christian  Experience, 
1890),  who  seeks  to  combine  Frank  with  Dorner,  finds  that  the 
experience  of  conversion  and  regeneration  have  scientific  validity 
as  real  experiences,  and  that  they  properly  lead  to  the  convic- 
tion of  a  divine  Christ,  the  redeemer  from  sin,  the  reality  of  whose 
relationship  to  man  rests  on  an  irrefragable  experimental  founda- 
tion which  carries  its  certainty  over  to  the  records  on  the  knowl- 
edge of  which  this  experience  is  based.  Herrmann,  in  his 
Communion  with  God  (tr.  1895),  finds  the  test  of  how  Christ  shall 
be  conceived,  and  what  His  relationships  to  us  are  and  our 
assurance  of  their  reality,  in  the  experienced  moral  power  that 
comes  through  the  vision  of  the  Christ  as  He  has  been  made  real 
to  the  Church  in  consecutive  ages  of  its  history.  The  truthful- 
ness of  this  impression  does  not  depend  on  the  accuracy  of  the 
narratives,  but  on  the  fact  that,  in  the  Apostles  and  in  all  be- 
lievers since,  Christ  has  been  productive  of  the  same  moral  expe- 
rience. These  instances  serve  simply  to  illustrate  in  part  the 
diverse  ways  by  which  the  modern  Apologetic  has  come  into 
being. 

In  Historic  Apologetics  the  crucial  question  at  the  present 
-time  is  this,  whether  the  Christ  of  the  twentieth  century  is  the 
legitimate  interpretation  of  facts  in  the  life  of  Jesus,  or  is  simply 
an  ideal,  verifiable  by  philosophical  speculation  or  by  subjective 
experience. 


THE   DOCTRINE   OF   GOD 

Rev.  William  Frye  English,  Ph.D. 
Congregational  Church,  East  Windsor,  Conn. 

The  great  factor  in,  and  explanation  of,  the  religious  history 
of  the  past  seventy-five  years,  and  the  whole  underlying  religious 
experience  which  has  produced  that  history,  is  the  idea  and 
doctrine  of  God  in  this  period.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  equally 
true,  and  especially  pertinent  to  our  present  inquiry,  that  the 
experience  and  history  of  this  time  have  determined  the  character 
of  this  idea  and  marked  out  the  lines  of  the  development  of  the 
doctrine.  It  is  ever  thus,  by  continual  action  and  reaction  be- 
tween the  soul  that  is  moved  to  seek,  learn,  and  experience,  and 
its  own  experiences  and  their  resultant  products  in  life,  institu- 
tions, and  history,  that  God  by  His  Spirit  continues  His  pro- 
gressive revelation  of  Himself,  now,  as  in  all  the  days  of  the  past. 

Greek  thought,  philosophic  and  idealistic,  interpreting  and 
formulating  Christian  experience,  emphasized  and  developed 
the  doctrine  of  the  divine  immanence;  then  Roman  thought, 
imperial  and  legalistic,  acting  upon  the  same  experience,  re- 
versed the  emphasis,  and  in  turn  developed  the  doctrine  of  a 
transcendent  God. 

During  the  period  under  consideration  scientific  thought,  or, 
if  one  prefers,  the  scientific  spirit,  has  been  the  dominant  influence 
in  modifying  and  developing  the  idea  of  God  which  we  have 
received  from  the  past  and  are  vitalizing  in  the  present  of  ex- 
perience. 

In  the  scholastic  Deism  of  the  eighteenth  century,  with  its  idea 
of  God  as  the  Great  Architect  or  First  Cause,  who,  inhabiting  a 
remote  heaven,  had  created  and  installed  the  vast  machine  of  the 
universe  to  run  of  itself  by  virtue  of  an  initial  impulse,  except 
when  regulated  by  some  special  providence  or  miracle,  the 
doctrine  of  transcendence  reached  its  limit.  The  Methodist  and 
Evangelical  movements  disturbed  its   reign  and  modified    its 

213 


214  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

influence,  and  even  the  seemingly  radical  assaults  upon  faith  by 
the  contemporary  German  and  English  philosophers  were  as 
well  an  evidence  of  a  growing  hunger  for  the  reality  of  a  living 
God  as  a  necessary  preparation  for  its  satisfaction.  What 
the  Revival  of  Letters  did  for  the  fifteenth  century,  the  new 
birth  of  Science  accomplished  for  ours,  and  surely  the  nine- 
teenth century  witnessed  a  greater  advance  in  scientific  knowl- 
edge than  all  the  preceding. 

During  our  period  scientific  thought  has  moved  through 
concentric  lines  of  investigation  and  development.  As  in  ancient 
philosophy  we  see  a  progression,  from  Physics  to  Dialectics,  and 
thence  to  Ethics,  so  here,  also,  we  note  a  corresponding  move- 
ment. Stimulated  by  the  epoch-making  discoveries  of  Darwin, 
the  physical  sciences,  dealing  with  those  phenomena  which  lie 
upon  the  extreme  circumference  of  reality,  first  received  and 
absorbed  attention.  The  new  philosophy,  with  its  doctrine  of 
evolution  and  its  new  emphasis  and  application  of  universal 
law,  grew  rapidly  in  the  soil  mellowed  and  prepared  by  Spinoza, 
Hegel,  Coleridge,  and  others.  Ever  toward  the  more  central  and 
spiritual  realities  has  moved  this  thought,  and  History,  Sociol- 
ogy, and  Psychology  are  even  now  occupying  its  attention  —  the 
significant  fact  being  this,  that  spiritual  phenomena  and  experi- 
ences are  recognized  and  accorded  a  place  in  the  world  of  reality 
by  Science  itself. 

In  general,  with  regard  to  the  doctrine  of  God,  as  with  all  other 
doctrines,  we  are  turning  from  a  mechanical  exegesis  and  philo- 
sophic reasoning  to  emphasize,  as  perhaps  never  before,  the 
reality  of  Christian  experience,  and  to  interpret  the  facts  of 
observation  and  history  in  its  light. 

We  have  come  to  recognize  the  being  of  God  as  a  primal  fact  of 
human  consciousness.  As  through  the  physical  senses  we  are  con- 
scious of  the  material  universe,  require  no  proofs  of  its  existence, 
and  can  frame  none  without  its  assumption;  so  through  our 
spiritual  faculties  we  have  experience  of  God,  and  live  and  act  in 
the  consciousness  of  His  being,  of  which  we  need  no  proof,  and 
our  logic  can  invent  none  that  does  not  in  some  way  assume  this 
ultimate  fact.  Not  that  the  old  "  arguments,"  so  called,  in  vogue 
at  the  beginning  of  our  period  —  ontological,  cosmological, 
teleological,  moral,  and  historical  —  are  without  value  and  signifi- 
cance.    While  the  logic  of  human  thought,  the  law  of  causation 


THE    DOCTRINE    OF    GOD  215 

in  physical  processes,  the  course  and  arrangement  of  nature  and 
of  human  life,  may  not  of  themselves  alone  demonstrate  the  being 
of  God,  they  certainly  manifest  and  illustrate  in  their  respective 
spheres  the  knowledge  of  God  which  comes  through  the  direct 
experience  of  the  individual  and  of  man  in  his  various  social 
relationships.  Moreover,  the  argument  from  the  constitution  of 
society  emphasizes  the  element  of  freedom  in  self-determination, 
the  fundamental  element  of  personality.  Personality  being  the 
central  principle  of  the  world  and  in  his  development  the  high- 
est attainment  of  man,  the  personality  of  God,  unlimited  unless 
self-limited,  surely  not  limited  by  finite  conditions  as  is  man's 
personality  in  its  realization,  appears  as  the  foundation  of  the 
personality  of  man,  and  is  demonstrated  thereby. 

The  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  received  as  a  historic  doctrine  of 
the  Church,  formerly  asserted  and  defended  by  proof-texts  and 
logical  and  philosophical  considerations,  is  coming  to  be  further 
elucidated  in  the  perception  of  His  image  and  the  manifestation 
of  His  rich  life  in  the  individual  and  social  experiences  of  the  race, 
as  their  vital  meaning  is  recognized.  The  distinctions  of  the 
Trinity  are  not  mere  arbitrary  philosophical  distinctions,  but  the 
Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit  are  realities  with  whom  we  have  to 
do,  and  necessary  expressions  of  a  God,  who  in  His  nature  and 
being  is  eternally,  absolutely,  and  comprehensively  social  in  the 
richness  of  His  all-pervading  life. 

The  doctrine  of  the  fatherhood  of  God  has  been  emphasized 
during  the  past  seventy-five  years  as  never  before.  A  reaction 
from  the  consideration  of  the  more  severe  aspects  of  the  divine 
nature  has  doubtless  inclined  this  age  to  dwell  upon  its  paternal 
side.  But  the  appreciation  has  been  real  and  vital,  not  merely 
formal  and  sentimental,  as  is  evidenced  by  the  development  of 
Sociology  and  the  multitude  of  humanitarian  and  philanthropic 
institutions,  so  characteristic  of  our  period.  There  can  be  no 
better  or  surer  indication  of  a  vital  perception  of  the  meaning  of 
the  fatherhood  of  God  than  practical  efforts  to  realize  the  brother- 
hood of  man,  for  the  latter  logically  and  experimentally  depends 
upon  the  former. 

The  doctrine  of  God  has  ever  been  developed  between  the  two 
poles  of  immanence  and  transcendence,  and  they  are  both  neces- 
sary for  full-orbed  thought.  Like  the  centrifugal  and  centripetal 
forces,  the  influence  of  each  must  be  duly  felt,  else  disaster  to  faith 


2i6  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

and  experience.  Between  Pantheism  and  Absenteeism  there  is 
not  much  to  choose.  That  the  transcendence  of  God  had  been 
unduly  emphasized  at  the  expense  of  His  immanence,  and  that 
the  tide  had  already  begun  to  turn  at  the  beginning  of  our  period, 
is  doubtless  true.  It  was  then  asserted,  as  in  the  Saybrook 
Confession,  that  God  was  both  immanent  and  transcendent,  and 
it  is  so  still  maintained  among  us  to-day,  but  the  emphasis  has 
shifted  from  transcendence  to  immanence,  so  that  it  is  character- 
istic of  our  present  thought  to  view  God  as  immanent  in  all  created 
things,  the  soul,  life,  and  power  of  the  whole  universe,  and  yet 
transcendent  in  the  sense  that  He  is  personal  and  not  to  be  con- 
fused or  identified  with  His  own  creations.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  but  that  the  progress  and  discoveries  of  science  have  done 
much,  directly  and  indirectly,  to  stimulate  and  strengthen  this 
movement  of  thought.  With  new  light  upon  the  phenomena  of 
nature,  their  relations,  and  the  operation  of  its  forces,  men  were 
forced  to  think  of  God  as  closely  related  to  the  world  and  operat- 
ing upon  it  in  a  most  direct  way,  or  else  to  believe  that  nature 
operates  itself.  The  doctrine  of  evolution,  ridiculed,  feared, 
denounced,  and  then  generally  accepted,  at  least  as  a  working 
theory,  seemed  to  require  the  doctrine  of  the  immanence  of  God, 
or  at  least  to  harmonize  with  it,  in  explaining  the  phenomena  and 
accounting  for  the  course  of  the  whole  process  of  development. 
This  age,  too,  came  to  believe  as  none  other  has  in  the  universality 
of  the  reign  of  law.  It  turned  to  laws,  universal  and  all-powerful, 
for  the  explanation  of  all  phenomena  relating  to  matter  and  mind 
and  the  general  development  of  the  cosmic  universe,  and  looked 
to  them  as  indicating  the  lines  of  progress  for  the  future.  But 
laws  are  but  "  modes  of  action  of  omnipotence,"  explaining  much, 
but  they  themselves  in  turn  requiring  an  adequate  explanation, 
such  as  the  immanence  of  the  Divine  Being,  the  expression  of 
whose  will  they  are.  This  fundamental  postulate  of  all  scientific 
thought  has  powerfully  reinforced  the  doctrine  of  the  immanence 
of  God  by  giving  scientific  expression  to  the  doctrines  of  His 
omnipresence,  immutability,  and  constant,  unswerving  purpose. 
The  Bampton  Lecturers  who  dealt  with  the  doctrine  of 
creation,  from  Faber  in  the  first  year  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
to  Nolan  in  1833,  at  the  beginning  of  our  period,  were  unanimous 
in  strenuously  maintaining  the  truth  of  the  Mosaic  record  that 
the  world  was  made  in  six  literal  days,  making  Astronomy  and 


THE   DOCTRINE    OF    GOD  217 

Geology  confirm  their  interpretation,  and  asserting  that  to  make 
the  days  of  creation  poetry  and  not  literal  history  was  to  "  abandon 
the  ark  of  God  to  the  enemy,"  "to  reject  Christianity,"  and  "give 
up  Revelation."  These  theologians  doubtless  represented  the 
prevailing  spirit  and  opinion  at  the  beginning  of  our  period.  We 
have  journeyed  far  since  then.  In  our  thought  of  God  as  the 
Creator,  we  have  been  taken  out  of  planetary  limitation  into  the 
boundless  spaces  of  the  stellar  universe;  our  measure  of  time  has 
been  extended  from  earthly  days  to  great  cosmic  periods,  geologic 
asons;  from  the  instant  and  complete  operation  of  divine  fiat  we 
have  reached  the  conception  of  the  long  and  constant  operation  of 
divine  energy,  resourceful,  all-embracing,  all-powerful,  and  un- 
swerving in  the  realization  of  His  purposes.  At  the  same  time  we 
have  been  shown  the  infinite  minuteness,  as  well  as  the  immeasur- 
able sweep,  of  the  operation  of  creative  power.  Superficially,  at 
least,  our  ideas  of  creation  have  been  completely  changed,  and  the 
necessary  readjustment  of  thought  has  been  accomplished  not 
without  difficulty  and  apprehension  as  to  its  effects  upon  Christian 
doctrine.  We  are  now  no  longer  afraid  to  view  the  Creator  in  the 
light  of  the  larger  thought,  and  have  to  come  to  realize  with 
Lotze,  "Whichever  way  of  creation  God  may  have  chosen,  in 
none  can  the  dependence  of  the  universe  on  Him  become  slacker, 
in  none  be  drawn  closer."  Indeed,  we  feel  positively,  that  in  this 
particular.  Christian  thought  has  made  a  great  and  permanent 
advance,  and  that  the  new  doctrine  of  creation  is  not  only  im- 
measurably superior  to  the  old  in  breadth,  dignity,  and  reasonable- 
ness, but  that  at  the  same  time  it  brings  God  nearer  to  us,  and 
leads  us  to  recognize  His  presence  and  activity  more  readily  and 
constantly  in  the  phenomena  and  course  of  nature  and  life.  "  In 
the  beginning  God  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth"  not  only 
still  stands  as  an  ultimate  and  veracious  statement  of  truth,  but 
awakens  in  our  minds  a  deeper  wonder  and  admiration,  and 
moves  our  hearts  to  a  more  profound  trust  as  we  trace  the  foot- 
steps of  the  great  Creator  in  the  rocks,  see  the  glory  of  His  gleam- 
ing handiwork  in  the  sky,  and  in  history  and  experience  watch 
the  unfolding  and  upspringing  of  life. 

In  like  manner  the  doctrine  of  the  divine  government  of  the 
world  through  providence  has  been  led  out  into  a  larger  horizon  of 
realization  and  expectancy,  and  clothed  with  greater  dignity  and 
reasonableness.     At  the  beginning  of  our  period  it  formally  in- 


2i8  RECENT  CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

eluded  in  the  realm  of  its  direction  all  phenomena,  persons,  and 
events.  During  the  last  three-quarters  of  a  century,  however, 
the  process  of  the  discovery,  exploration,  and  occupation  of  un- 
known and  undeveloped  regions  of  this  kingdom  has  gone  steadily 
forward  with  a  constant,  ever-growing  increase  in  its  breadth  and 
richness.  While  we  use  the  same  terms  in  defining  the  extent  and 
scope  of  the  providence  of  God,  they  have  been  and  still  are  con- 
stantly gaining  in  every  dimension  of  meaning.  The  distinction 
of  the  former  times  between  a  general  providence,  relating  to  the 
ordinary  course  of  nature  and  the  world,  and  special  providences, 
having  to  do  with  the  special  care  of  the  Church  or  the  deliver- 
ances and  experiences  of  individuals  and  nations,  especially 
those  that  were  of  particular  moral  and  spiritual  significance,  now 
possesses  little  vitality  in  the  thought  of  this  age.  That  God 
governs  and  controls  the  whole  universe  through  and  by  His  par- 
ticular disposition  of  each  individual  portion  of  it  in  relation  to  the 
whole,  is  still  our  thought,  but  we  believe  in  one  all-inclusive 
Divine  Providence,  working  in  and  through  all  phenomena  of 
matter,  mind,  and  spirit,  for  the  accomplishment  of  His  purposes. 
This  change  in  thought  has  doubtless  been  largely  induced  by  the 
different  appreciation  of  the  divine  method  of  operation  which  has 
come  to  this  age  through  the  influence  of  scientific  thought. 

A  God  working  from  without  the  universe,  a  great  First  Cause 
setting  in  operation  its  course  and  machinery,  ordaining  second 
causes  and  utilizing  them  for  the  accomplishment  of  His  will, 
and  free  at  all  times  to  stop  the  world -machine,  or  suspend  the 
action  of  secondary  causes  with  direct  interference  and  action  in 
the  world  of  nature  and  the  affairs  of  men,  this  was  the  old  philos- 
ophy, baldly  and  perhaps  extremely  stated,  which  made  the 
special  providence  natural  if  not  inevitable.  The  belief  in  God  as 
present  in  all  life,  and  manifest  in  universal  laws  expressive  of 
His  constant,  unchanging  purpose  and  activity,  fills  the  whole 
course  and  determination  of  phenomena  and  life  with  the  direct 
presence  and  determinative  activity  of  God,  instead  of  only  con- 
necting Him  vitally  with  that  which  is  special,  partial,  and  in- 
frequent. 

Thus  through  this  age,  as  through  all  others,  God  has  con- 
tinued His  self-manifestation  to  the  children  of  men.  We  are,  we 
believe,  only  at  the  beginning  of  the  process,  and  the  greatness 
of  the  beauty  and  the  glory  of  the  revelation  is  still  before  us. 


THE   DOCTRINE   OF   CHRIST 

President  William  Douglas  Mackenzie,  D.D.,  LL.D. 
Hartford  Theological  Seminary 

I.  The  Person  of  Christ. — The  supreme  significance  of 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  for  the  life  of  the  world  is  recognized  and 
confirmed  by  the  philosophies  and  controversies  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  In  philosophy  Hegel  the  Idealist,  Comte  the  Posi- 
tivist,  and  Huxley  the  Evolutionist,  must  reckon  with  Him  and 
measure  the  proportions  which  He  assumes  in  their  universe. 
In  the  great,  sweeping  social  movement  the  leaders  of  thought, 
Bentham  and  Mill,  Karl  Marx  and  Tolstoy,  must  take  account 
of  His  teaching  and  His  spirit.  It  need  not  be  said  that  in  the 
religious  thought  of  this  period  the  Person  of  Christ  has  been 
the  central  theme  of  controversy.  In  no  part  of  Christian 
history  since  the  early  centuries  has  the  struggle  been  more 
intense  or  more  virulent  around  that  center  and  citadel  of  faith. 

Partly  this  is  due  to  the  fact  that  freedom  has  become  the 
atmosphere  of  our  life.  Without  freedom,  indeed,  investiga- 
tion can  never  be  thorough,  and  conclusions  fail  to  be  completely 
personal  and  moral  in  the  proportion  in  which  they  are  forced. 
But  it  is  also  true  that  even  freedom  does  not  preclude  the  same 
defects.  It  gives  occasion  for  the  full  play  of  individual  vagaries 
and  all  the  devastations  of  self-will.  Conclusions  which  are 
arbitrary,  which  reflect  the  desire  for  fame  rather  than  truth, 
or  the  mere  love  of  ingenuity,  or  the  bitterness  of  personal  an- 
tipathy, are  no  less  immoral  than  those  which  flow  from  subser- 
vience of  spirit  or  the  dread  of  ecclesiastical  penalties.  Hence 
the  nineteenth  century  is  characterized  by  a  very  tumult  of  war- 
ring and  clamorous  opinions  about  that  Central  Figure  of  the 
Christian  faith,  in  which  all  manner  of  motives  and  of  spiritual 
attitudes  are  revealed.  The  true  lover  of  freedom  is  undis- 
mayed by  this  vast  and  portentous  spectacle.  Even  as  he 
measures  its  proportions,  as  he  recalls  what  it  means  to  man- 
kind to  hold  or  to  lose  the  faith  that  the  Son  of  God  was  found  in 

219 


220  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

fashion  as  a  man  and  redeemed  us  by  His  cross,  he  realizes  at 
last  that  faith  can  never  win  its  final  triumph  by  physical  com- 
pulsion, but  only  by  persuasion  of  the  mind  and  conquest  of  the 
heart.  And  for  such  persuasion,  for  such  conquest,  the  air  o£ 
utmost  liberty  alone  can  afford  the  true  conditions. 

After  various  warnings,  the  storm  upon  the  citadel  broke 
in  its  full  force  in  Germany  when  Strauss  published  the  first 
edition  of  his  Life  of  Christ  in  1835.  -^^  *hat  time  New  England 
had  begun  to  rest  from  her  own  severe  and  harrowing  conflict. 
The  Unitarian  denomination  had  organized  itself  publicly  on  its 
own  doctrinal  basis,  henceforth  to  try  conclusions  with  the  world 
on  the  one  hand  and  with  the  Orthodox  Church  on  the  other, 
from  no  uncertain  standpoint.  The  Orthodox  churches  felt 
more  secure  of  their  own  ground,  as  they  gathered  strength  for 
the  new  stage  of  history  which  lay  before  them.  On  the  merits 
of  the  controversy  which  had  raged  so  long,  Dr.  F.  H.  Foster, 
the  ablest  historian  of  New  England  Theology,  says  that  "  about 
1833"  the  battle  was  drawn.  The  Unitarians  had  attacked  the 
theological  doctrine  of  the  Person  of  Christ  in  a  manner  which 
the  Orthodox  failed  adequately  to  meet.  The  latter  could  not 
show  how  the  one  Person  of  the  Son  of  God  could  unite  in  Him- 
self two  natures,  human  and  divine,  in  such  a  fashion  as  to  make 
a  real  human  life  possible.  But  in  the  scholarly  interpretation 
of  the  New  Testament  the  Orthodox  were  victorious:  "the 
divinity  of  Christ  was  established  afresh  as  a  Biblical  doctrine, 
and  its  practical  effect  upon  life  and  worship  were  well  secured'* 
{History  of  New  England  Theology,  p.  314). 

From  that  time  onward  for  many  years  no  important  work  was 
done  by  any  American  theologian  in  this  particular  field.  More 
or  less  direct  echoes  of  the  European  warfare  were  heard.  An 
increasing  number  of  theologians  read  German,  and  several 
important  translations  were  made,  including  that  of  Strauss's 
work  by  Marian  Evans  (George  Eliot)  in  1846.  The  most 
famous  Seminary  teachers  of  Theology,  Charles  A.  Hodge  of 
Princeton,  Edwards  A.  Park  of  Andover,  W.  G.  T.  Shedd  of 
Union,  gave  learned  and  orthodox  lectures  on  the  subject,  but 
they  made  no  fresh  contribution.  They  do  not  seem  to  have  felt 
the  extreme  pressure  either  of  the  critical  controversy  in  Ger- 
many, or  of  the  nascent  scientific  view  of  nature  and  of  human 
history,  which  were  both  destined  to  present  the  Christological 


THE   DOCTRINE    OF    CHRIST  221 

problem  under  entirely  new  conditions  to  the  modern  mind. 
They  also  sought  no  help  from  the  great  philosophical  move- 
ment known  as  Idealism. 

The  one  outstanding  and  original  thinker  of  this  period  in 
America  was  undoubtedly  Horace  Bushnell.  I  find  no  signs  in 
his  writings  that  he  had  done  direct  and  serious  work  either 
upon  the  philosophy  of  Kant  and  its  issues  or  upon  the  critical 
study  of  the  New  Testament.  Yet,  being  possessed  of  a  highly 
original  mind  and  an  independent  spirit,  he  treated  Scripture 
with  a  reverent  freedom,  and  worked  out  a  philosophical  posi- 
tion bearing  some  resemblance  to  that  which  at  a  later  time 
Ritschl  derived  from  Kant.  He  founded  his  philosophical  method 
upon  the  new  science  of  language,  and  especially  upon  the  fact 
that  words,  above  all  those  which  are  used  in  the  region  of 
thought  and  spirit,  are  at  best  imperfect  symbols  of  the  truth. 
Revelation  "represents  the  invisible  to  us  under  conditions 
of  form  and  symbol,"  and  its  words  must  not  be  taken  "as 
terms  of  absolute  notation"  {Christ  in  Theology,  p.  23).  They 
partake  more  of  poetry  than  of  literal  description  of  definite 
or  limited  fact.  On  the  other  hand,  Bushnell  insists  that  "  there 
is  a  perceptive  power  in  spiritual  life"  by  which  we  find  ourselves 
in  contact  with  spiritual  reality  (God  in  Christ,  p.  93).  Such 
doctrines  as  the  Incarnation  and  the  Trinity  "  offer  God,  not  so 
much  to  the  reason,  or  the  logical  understanding,  as  to  the 
imaginative  and  the  perceptive,  or  aesthetic,  apprehension  of 
faith"  (Ibid.  p.  102). 

There  is  here  then  a  teaching,  which,  like  the  Ritschlian,  in- 
sists that  our  understanding  is  concerned  with  facts  in  space  and 
time,  while  the  eternal  and  spiritual  are  open  only  to  those 
spiritual  processes  which  Bushnell  calls  "the  perceptive  or 
aesthetic  apprehensions  of  faith,"  and  which  the  German  theo- 
logian calls  "judgments  of  value."  Nevertheless,  in  his  formal 
exposition  of  the  Person  of  Christ  and  of  the  Trinity  he,  like 
Ritschl,  surpasses  the  limitations  of  his  own  theory.  For  him 
God  unrevealed  would  be  only  "the  Absolute  Being  —  the  in- 
finite —  the  I  am  that  I  am,  giving  no  sign  that  He  is,  other 
than  that  He  is"  (God  in  Christ,  p.  139).  But  in  God  there  has 
been  proved  to  be  a  power  of  self-expression,  for  we  know  Him; 
that  power  in  Him  is  the  Logos,  "  God  mirrored  before  His  own 
understanding,  and  to  be  mirrored,  as  in  fragments  of  the  mir- 


222  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

ror,  before  us"  (Ibid.  p.  146).  This,  in  human  form,  is  Christ, 
whose  words  and  works  betray  His  divine  origin  and  make  God 
known  to  us.  The  presence  of  the  divine  in  the  human,  of  the 
very  Logos,  the  Word  of  God,  in  Jesus  Christ,  Bushnell  ever 
passionately  asserts.  But  there  he  stops.  As  to  the  mode  of 
this  divine  indwelhng  he  will  make  no  inquiry.  He  sees  that 
growth  is  attributed  to  Him,  but  so  are  reasoning,  and  memory, 
and  emotions,  and  movement  in  space.  All  of  these  are  "re- 
pugnant to  his  proper  Deity";  but  they  are  the  conditions  under 
which  the  Absolute  God  has  expressed  Himself  to  us,  that  we 
might  know  His  "feeling  and  character."  The  two-nature 
theory  of  traditional  theology,  therefore,  is  repudiated  by  Bush- 
nell no  less  heartily  than  the  theory  of  a  kenosis  or  self-emptying, 
"  a  half-tint  thrown  over  his  deity."  Of  the  metaphysical  or 
speculative  difficulties  involved  he  says  simply  and  finally,  "I 
dismiss  them  all."  Almost  might  we  be  listening  to  Herrmann, 
that  most  faithful  disciple  of  Ritschl,  when  Bushnell  says, 
"Regarding  Christ  in  this  exterior,  and,  as  it  were,  aesthetic, 
way  he  is  that  Holy  Thing  in  which  my  God  is  brought  to  me, 
brought  even  down  to  a  fellow-relation  with  me." 

With  the  same  energy  and  vivacity  Bushnell  treats  the  doctrine 
of  the  Trinity.  He  accepts  heartily  and  completely  the  doctrine 
of  the  New  Testament  that  God  is  revealed  and  is  to  be  wor- 
shiped as  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit.  He  will,  in  face  of 
Scripture  and  of  the  necessities  of  language,  even  call  these 
"  persons  " ;  but  he  will  not  ascribe  "  to  these  divine  persons  an 
interior,  metaphysical  nature."  He  goes  the  length,  in  order  to 
be  a  consistent  agnostic,  of  refusing  to  say  that  he  means  "  simply 
to  assert  a  modal  trinity"  —  lest  that  should  imply  that  he  be- 
lieves them  to  be  "  modal  only"  (God  in  Christ,  p.  175).  In  that 
region  he  will  utter  neither  Yea  nor  Nay. 

The  historical  significance  of  Bushnell  for  our  subject  does  not 
lie  in  the  fact  that  he  offers  a  new  solution  of  the  problem  of  the 
Person  of  Christ,  nor  that  he  calls  it  a  mystery  and  lets  it  go, 
as  mysteries  are  apt  to  go,  into  the  limbo  of  things  whose  interest 
is  dead.  He  was,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  the  first  man  in  America 
to  hold  with  deep  conviction  to  the  Incarnation  of  the  Word  — 
the  Deity  of  Christ,  the  Trinity  of  divine  Persons  —  and  yet 
base  his  refusal  to  investigate  these  facts  on  their  metaphysical 
side  upon  an  attempted  theory  of  knowledge.     He  saw  that  to  be 


THE    DOCTRINE    OF    CHRIST  223 

content  with  ignorance  is  the  way  to  kill  faith;  but  he  believed 
that  to  draw  the  boundaries  of  knowledge,  to  fix  the  limits 
beyond  which  our  understanding  cannot  use  its  limbs  of  logic, 
is  to  deepen  a  spirit  of  reverential  humility,  and  at  the  same  time 
to  intensify  our  interest  and  our  confidence  within  that  sphere 
where  human  reason  has  her  fields  of  labor  and  wins  her  harvests 
of  garnered  truth. 

The  writings  of  Horace  Bushnell  contain  here  and  there 
echoes  of  a  struggle  still  more  vigorous  and  stern  which  was  going 
on  in  Germany.  His  knowledge  of  it  seems  to  have  been  ob- 
tained mainly  at  second  hand  and  only  in  broken  parts.  In  the 
first  place,  this  struggle  arose  from  the  effort  to  reconstruct  the 
history  of  Christianity  by  a  complete  criticism  of  its  own  docu- 
ments. This  criticism  was  conducted  very  largely  by  men  who 
avowedly  adopted  certain  presuppositions  that  were  essentially 
hostile  to  the  idea  that  the  New  Testament  tells  us  the  truth. 
Baur  worked  under  the  sway  of  the  Hegelian  philosophy  and 
sought  to  prove  that  its  theory  of  development  could  be  applied 
to  the  rise  of  Christianity;  while  Strauss,  who  later  abandoned 
that  philosophy  for  scientific  agnosticism,  in  the  first  issue  of 
his  Life  of  Jesus,  took  refuge  in  it  for  preservation  of  those  re- 
ligious values  "in  idea"  which  he  had  discovered  to  be  absent 
from  the  actual  history  of  Jesus.  These  and  other  scholars 
approached  the  New  Testament  with  the  frank  assumption  that, 
as  Matthew  Arnold  said,  "Miracles  do  not  happen."  Their 
work  led  to  seventy-five  years  of  searching  into  the  writings  of 
the  New  Testament  which  is  unparalleled  in  all  literature  for 
its  severity  of  minute  labor  and  for  its  tumultuous  variety  of 
utterly  diverse  conclusions.  Slowly  in  recent  years  something 
like  a  general  consensus  of  opinion  seems  to  be  emerging  as  to 
the  purely  literary  questions  which  are  involved.  With  that 
story  I  am  not  closely  concerned  here. 

The  most  remarkable  change,  wrought  in  the  method  of 
studying  the  Person  of  Christ  in  the  nineteenth  century,  was  due 
to  Schleiermacher;  and  in  him  it  was  due  to  the  effort  to  ex- 
pound Christianity,  even  as  the  absolute  religion,  in  terms  of 
the  human  consciousness.  Religion  is  the  feeling  of  depend- 
ence on  God.  The  Christian  Religion  is  due  to  the  fact  that  in 
Christ  this  relation  to  God  was  ideally  conceived  and  historically 
fulfilled.     In  Him  we  have  no  need  to  discern  a  preexistent  Being 


224  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

who  has  become  incarnate ;  rather  do  we  find  One  in  whom,  by 
a  mysterious  and  inscrutable  creative  act,  God  has  brought 
forth  the  ideal  man  in  ideal  relations  with  Himself.  As  to  the 
reality  of  that  creative  act  of  God,  which  cannot  in  the  nature 
of  things  be  directly  proved,  we  must  go  to  the  life,  the  words,  the 
consciousness  of  Jesus  Himself.  What  is  there  revealed  may  be, 
and  for  the  Christian  consciousness  is,  the  truth  itself.  What 
lies  beyond  is  inapprehensible,  indescribable,  and  unprovable. 
There  was  in  Schleiermacher  a  mystic  element,  a  profound  rev- 
erence for  and  dependence  upon  the  Person  of  Christ,  to  which 
his  own  Christology  does  not  do  justice.  But  it  was  his  method 
which  in  the  midst  of  those  years  of  critical  inquiry  awoke  new 
and  important  movements. 

The  chief  of  these  was  undoubtedly  that  known  as  the  Kenotic 
Theory.  This  arose  from  an  effort  to  face  the  facts  implied 
alike  in  the  Gospel  narratives  and  in  the  faith  that  God  and 
human  nature  were  united  in  the  person  of  Christ.  First,  the 
accounts  given  of  the  human  experience  of  Jesus  must  be  ac- 
knowledged fairly  and  fully.  He  did  grow  in  knowledge.  He 
did  endure  sorrow.  He  did  pass  through  temptation,  and 
exercise  faith  in  God.  He  also  died  and  was  buried.  These 
are  data  of  His  experience,  and  they  are  the  data  of  a  human 
consciousness,  events  in  a  human  life.  On  the  other  hand^ 
the  Scriptures  teach  that  He  was  the  Son  of  God,  the  eternal 
Logos,  that  in  Him  there  was  present  not  merely  an  impersonal 
element  of  a  superhuman  order,  but  a  Personal  Being  who  is 
possessed  of  attributes  and  powers  which  are  no  less  than  those 
of  the  eternal  God  Himself.  How  are  we  to  conceive  of  the  pro- 
cess by  which  this  union  took  place?  In  one  famous  passage 
Paul  seems  to  give  us  the  clew.  He  says  that  "  Being  (or  exist- 
ing) in  the  form  of  God  He  emptied  Himself"  (eavrov  eKevtoaev), 
From  the  use  of  that  clew  arose  the  Kenotic  Theory. 

The  names  associated  with  this  view  are  Thomasius,  whose 
work,  Christi  Person  und  Werk,  appeared  in  1856,  and  Gess, 
who  published  a  short  treatise  in  1851  and  another  in  two  volumes, 
Christi  Person  und  Werk,  in  1870-78.  Thomasius  taught  that 
in  becoming  incarnate  the  Son  of  God,  by  an  act  of  His  om- 
nipotent will,  deprived  Himself  of  the  attributes  of  His  divine 
nature  which  were  inconsistent  with  the  limitations  of  time  and 
space — namely,  omnipotence,  omniscience,  and  omnipresence — 


THE   DOCTRINE    OF   CHRIST  225 

retaining  the  moral  and  spiritual,  the  essential  attributes  of 
power,  truth,  holiness,  and  love.  Thus  His  very  Self  was  intro- 
duced into  the  conditions  of  humanity.  The  Son  of  God,  the 
eternal  Logos,  being  Himself  of  the  human  type,  though  divine, 
His  resulting  life  in  the  Person  of  Christ  must  be  truly  human, 
and  yet  possess  the  perfection  and  the  significance  of  the  Divine 
Self  from  which  it  flowed.  Gess  went  further  than  this.  He 
held  that  the  act  of  Incarnation  implied  even  the  quenching  of 
the  self-consciousness  of  the  Son  of  God  for  a  time  in  the  in- 
fancy and  childhood  of  Jesus.  Only  gradually  did  the  Logos 
in  the  man  Jesus  resume,  and  that  by  naturally  conditioned 
stages,  the  possession  of  His  eternal  Self-consciousness.  The 
full  resumption  of  its  exercise  was  the  consequence,  of  course, 
of  the  Resurrection  and  the  Ascension. 

There  is  no  time  to  do  more  than  thus  name  this  interesting 
type  of  Christology.  We  cannot  now  trace  its  modification  in 
other  writers,  either  in  Germany  or  in  England.  At  the  very 
time  when  it  was  being  discussed  in  Germany  the  attention  of 
theologians  became  rapidly  and  powerfully  directed  upon  other 
fields.  It  was  in  the  sixties  and  the  seventies  of  the  last  century 
that  the  Grafian  theory  of  Old  Testament  literature  took  hold  of 
the  scholarly  world  and  drew  to  itself  the  attention  of  the  most 
brilliant  younger  men.  This  was  accompanied,  of  course,  by  in- 
creasingly earnest  critical  study  of  the  New  Testament  documents. 
Men  felt  that  no  one  could  now  speak  with  any  authority,  because 
no  one  could  reason  with  any  certainty  upon  the  basis  even  of  the 
New  Testament  so  long  as  there  was  doubt  regarding  the  literary 
history,  the  historical  value,  the  religious  authority  of  its  com- 
ponent documents.  But  what  is  to  become  of  Christian  faith, 
not  to  speak  of  Christian  Theology,  if  we  must  wait,  before  we 
believe  a  truth,  until  our  warring  scholars  have  fixed  the  dates 
of  these  Biblical  writings  and  have  agreed  upon  the  value  of  their 
varied  doctrinal  positions? 

The  answer  to  this  question  comes  historically  in  the  great 
movement,  to  which  I  have  already  referred,  known  as  the 
Ritschlian  movement.  For  all  those  who  accepted  the  method 
and  position  of  Albrecht  Ritschl  it  comes  to  this,  that  Christian 
faith  must  learn  to  do  without  metaphysics,  and  is  independent 
even  of  the  details  of  historical  criticism.  Kant  has  taught  us 
the  relativity  of  human  knowledge.     The  terms  with  which  we 

Q 


226  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

clothe  God,  the  Infinite,  Eternal,  and  Absolute,  state  the  bound- 
ary of  the  human  mind.  They  give  us  no  definite  knowledge, 
they  reveal  to  us  no  object  with  which  our  logical  understanding 
can  deal.  On  the  other  hand,  history  does  present  us  with  the 
figure  of  Christ.  In  that  transcendent,  but  not  transcendental 
human  personality  we  have  the  revelation  of  man's  victory, 
and  its  secret.  Man  finds  himself  in  this  world  hemmed  in  by 
nature  and  by  evil.  He  is  engaged  in  a  warfare  of  which  there 
seems  to  be  no  end.  So  long  as  he  is  without  moral  peace,  with- 
out faith  in  the  future,  without  assurance  that  death  shall  not 
swallow  up  all  his  hopes  in  endless  night,  he  is  a  defeated  being. 
Now,  in  the  historical  figure  of  Jesus  we  find  one  whose  victory 
was  indubitable  and  complete.  Over  Him  evil  had  no  power. 
He  manifested  divine  qualities  in  the  very  perfection  with  which 
He  lived  the  sinless,  the  truthful,  the  obedient,  the  loving  life. 
He  lived  in  open  and  unsullied  communion  with  God.  His 
moral  consciousness  is  itself,  therefore,  the  historic  revelation  of 
the  living  God.  In  the  qualities  of  His  person  we  see  the  quali- 
ties of  Him  who  is  the  source  and  the  governor  of  all  history. 
We  may  not  speak  of  Him  as  mere  man,  for  He  is  conscious  of 
standing  in  a  religious  relation,  of  having  a  divine  mission,  to 
all  humanity.  The  existence  of  the  Christian  community,  its 
actual  experience  of  reconciliation  with  God,  on  which  indeed  it 
was  founded,  its  function  as  organ  of  the  Spirit  of  God  in  the 
world,  are  all  solid,  historical  facts  compelling  witness  to  the 
truth  of  His  consciousness.  He  is,  therefore,  the  true  Redeemer 
of  the  race,  not  because  He  expiated  our  sin,  but  because  He 
revealed  the  will  of  the  Father  to  forgive  sin,  and  because  He 
was  willing  in  the  fulfillment  of  His  mission  as  the  revealer  of 
God's  holy  will  of  love  even  to  endure  the  death  which  that  mis- 
sion entailed.  Through  Him  and  His  Church  God  has  actually 
taken  hold  of  mankind.  Of  His  Person,  in  its  inner  and  meta- 
physical nature,  we  are  by  the  very  constitution  of  our  reason 
unable  to  think  or  to  say  anything.  The  question  of  His  pre- 
existence  need  not  trouble  us.  If  He  was  conscious  of  it,  it 
remains  ein  Mysterium,  His  own  secret,  to  us  inscrutable,  and 
for  our  faith  in  His  divine  significance,  for  our  experience  of 
His  reconciling  power,  unnecessary. 

The  Ritschlian  movement  has  undoubtedly  served  a  most 
valuable  end.     It  has  led  to  the  development  of  an  apologetic 


THE   DOCTRINE    OF   CHRIST 


227 


method  which,  during  the  last  forty  years,  has  enabled  many 
men  to  maintain  their  standing  as  Christian  believers.  But  its 
constructive  usefulness,  always  limited,  is  drawing  to  an  end. 
Its  indefiniteness  has  led  to  the  formation  of  various  parties  of 
Ritschlians.  On  the  one  hand,  some  have  sprung  from  his  loins 
who  have  tended  to  minimize  the  religious  functions  of  Jesus. 
What  did  He  do  to  reveal  God?  How  is  our  relation  to  God 
dependent  on  Him?  Or  is  it  so  dependent?  Do  we  need  to 
believe  in  His  uniqueness  as  a  divinely  constituted  human  being? 
If  so,  what,  if  any  exists,  is  His  relation  to  us  to-day?  If  His 
figure  stands  simply  in  the  dim  past,  a  glorious  point  in  time  on 
which  the  eternal  light  flashed  for  once,  does  not  that  light  grow 
dim  as  generations  pass  ?  As  we  move  away  from  the  modes  of 
thought  and  the  particular  problems  of  His  race  and  age,  does 
not  our  darkness  deepen  again  to  pre-Christian  gloom?  Those 
who  say  "Yes"  to  these  last  questions  are  passing  in  belief  and 
doctrine  out  of  the  range  of  those  truths  and  characteristic 
positions  which  we  call  Christian. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  He  was  a  being  with  whom  we  still 
stand  in  definite,  living,  and  personal  relations,  if  the  Risen  Lord 
is  the  ruler  of  human  history,  as  all  the  New  Testament  Apostles 
and  writers  believed  and  taught,  then  the  old  questions  as  to  His 
mysterious  and  superhuman  personality  recur  with  all  their  old 
insistent  power.  One  or  more  groups  of  Ritschlians,  with  Kaf- 
tan at  their  head,  while  owing  a  great  debt  to  their  master,  have 
confessed  that  his  delimitation  of  the  territory  of  human  thought 
was  too  narrow.  They  are  learning,  as  Wobbermin  of  Berlin 
has  shown,  to  draw  a  distinction  between  metaphysics  and 
metaphysical  realities.  We  may  still  be  unable,  as  even  these 
maintain,  to  make  our  faith  depend  upon  the  conclusions  of  a 
formal  metaphysic.  And  yet  the  question  remains  whether  we 
have  not  in  the  very  facts  of  God,  of  the  Risen  Christ,  of  our 
present  communion  with  Him,  of  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
of  the  survival  and  immortality  of  the  soul,  yea,  in  the  fact  of 
our  spiritual  natures,  to  do  with  strictly  and  truly  metaphysical 
natures  and  realities.  If  these  facts  and  relations  are  within  the 
range  of  our  experience,  then,  whether  we  use  the  method  of 
metaphysical  inquiry  or  not,  our  theology  must  take  account  of 
metaphysical  existences;  and  in  its  own  way,  with  its  own  weap- 
ons and  methods,  it  must  seek  alike  to  justify  our  belief  in  them 


228  RECENT  CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

and  to  describe  that  view  of  the  universe  which  they  help  and 
compel  us  to  hold  before  our  minds. 

That,  in  general  terms,  is  how  the  matter,  so  far  as  theology 
of  the  Person  of  Christ  is  concerned,  stands  in  Germany  to-day. 
In  Great  Britain  the  situation  has  been  very  diflferent.  The 
British  inheritance  in  philosophy,  science,  and  scholarship  has 
not  been  that  from  which  German  theologians  arose.  The 
universe  has  not  been  constructed  dogmatically  in  terms  of  an 
absolute  Idealism,  except  by  a  small  group  like  the  Cairds, 
F.  H.  Bradley,  and  McTaggart.  Scholarship,  even  since  it 
learned  German  methods  and  thoroughness,  has  not  given  rise 
to  the  same  luxuriant  crop  of  extreme  and  short-lived  theories. 
Higher  Criticism  has  been  and  is  largely  in  the  hands  of  men  who 
retain  allegiance  to  the  ancient  faith  of  the  Church.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  Church  in  Great  Britain  has  long  been  accus- 
tomed to  do  battle  for  the  faith  against  avowed  enemies  of  the 
faith.  The  warfare  has  been  more  open  than  in  Germany, 
because  their  common  sense  would  not  allow  men  who  rejected 
Christianity  to  profess  that  their  positions  were  developments  of 
it.  Hence  the  characteristic  British  theologians  have  done 
their  work  with  a  continuous  regard  not  merely  for  the  approval 
of  scholars  qua  scholars,  but  also  for  that  of  the  general  Christian 
consciousness. 

Even  the  epoch-making  book  known  as  Ecce  Homo  (1866), 
with  all  its  dignity,  its  partial  attempt  to  use  a  critical  method 
upon  the  Gospels,  its  avoidance  of  dogma,  is  yet  pervaded  with  a 
deep  religious  feeling.  If  it  does  not  discuss  the  Person  of 
Christ,  it  reveals  His  consciousness  at  work  upon  the  minds  and 
hearts  of  His  disciples,  creating  that  new  community  whose  moral 
and  social  characteristics  and  relations  were  so  new  and  so  power- 
ful, in  their  ideal  and  tendency  so  like  a  kingdom  of  God. 

In  1867  appeared  Canon  Liddon's  famous  Bampton  Lectures 
on  The  Divinity  of  our  Lord,  a  strenuous  and  powerful  defense 
of  the  orthodox  faith.  Liddon  was  not  only  a  splendid  preacher, 
but  a  widely  read  and  sound  scholar.  Before  him  lay  the  most 
important  German  works,  from  the  hands  of  Strauss,  Hase, 
Ewald,  Schenkel,  and  others;  and  although  he  did  not  use  what 
is  called  the  critical  method  himself,  and  his  apologetic  interest 
biased  his  handling  of  materials,  yet  he  was  by  no  means  insen- 
sitive to  the  new  movements.     He  had  begun  to  see,  for  instance, 


THE   DOCTRINE    OF   CHRIST 


229 


that  all  future  investigation  must  reckon  with  the  "conscious- 
ness" of  Jesus.  But  he  was  not  aware  how  radical  students  of 
the  Gospels  would  strive  to  escape  both  horns  of  the  great  dilemma 
which  he  thrust  with  such  passion  and  power  before  his  readers ; 
namely,  that  Christ  was  aut  Deus  aut  homo  non  bonus. 

In  1891  appeared  the  equally  famous  Bampton  Lectures  by 
Dr.  Charles  Gore  on  the  same  great  subject.  In  them  we  are 
almost  in  another  world  of  thought.  While  Liddon  had  opened 
his  work  with  an  insistence  on  the  fact  that  the  argument  for  the 
Deity  of  Christ  is  a  theological  and  therefore  a  religious  problem, 
Dr.  Gore  opened  his  with  the  statement  that "  Christianity  is  faith 
in  a  certain  person,  Jesus  Christ."  This  difference  of  approach 
leads  to  a  great  difference  in  the  kind  of  argument  by  which 
the  same  great  faith  in  the  Person  of  Christ  is  established. 
Moreover,  the  later  work  reveals  a  mind  that  is  facing  the  ac- 
cepted results  of  a  critical  process  to  which  Liddon  was  sternly 
hostile,  and  is  reckoning  with  those  very  kenotic  theories  of  the 
Incarnation  which  Liddon  practically  ignored.* 

After  Bishop  Gore's  work  we  find  ourselves  in  a  changed 
atmosphere  among  the  theologians  of  Great  Britain  and  Amer- 
ica. The  practical  and  concrete  spirit  of  the  English-speaking 
world,  alive  now  to  the  true  significance  of  the  German  methods 
of  critical  inquiry  and  yet  equally  alive  to  the  permanent  demands 
of  the  Christian  consciousness,  the  potent  forces  in  the  life  of 
the  Church  of  God,  has  been  opening  out  a  characteristic,  but 
thoroughly  scientific,  method  of  dealing  with  this  deepest  of  all 
problems.  It  appears  in  such  works  as  Fairbairn's  The  Place 
of  Christ  in  Modern  Theology  (1893),  Gordon's  The  Christ  of 
To-day  (1895),  Forrest's  The  Christ  of  History  and  of  Experi- 
ence (1897),  Walker's  The  Spirit  and  the  Incarnation  (1899), 
and  Denney's  Jesus  and  the  Gospel  (1909). 

For  such  writers  the  starting-point  of  inquiry,  the  fact  to  be 
investigated,  is  not  an  uncertain  figure,  Jesus  of  Nazareth, 
vaguely  described  in  such  shreds  of  the  Synoptic  Gospels  as  the 
judgment  of  any  one  critic  or  group  of  critics  is  able  to  give  us. 
Neither  is  it  a  mere  series  of  ideas  from  the  lips  of  Jesus  or  the 
pen  of  Paul  challenging  us  to  decide  who  thought  of  this  one  or 
that  one  first.     The  great  fact  of  history  to  be  explained  is  the 

■  This  change  had  in  part  been  wrought  by  A.  B.  Bruce's  invaluable  historical 
■work,  The  Humiliation  of  Christ  (2d.  ed.,  1881). 


230  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

Christian  religion,  the  Church  of  Christ  alike  in  a.d.  50  and  a.d. 
1900,  the  typical  consciousness  of  fellowship  with  the  living  God, 
which  arose  through  faith  in  Jesus  as  the  Christ,  the  Redeemer, 
the  Revealer  of  God  to  the  unexpectant  and  startled  souls  of  men. 
The  highest  ranges  of  human  experience  must  have  adequate 
causes. 

All  the  writers  named  above,  but  most  fully  and  clearly  Fair- 
bairn  and  Denney,  put  the  matter  substantially  in  this  way: 
Here  we  have  a  community  of  human  beings  which  is  organized 
upon  the  basis  of  a  conscious  personal  relationship  with  the  Holy 
and  Eternal  God  —  an  entirely  new  fact  in  history ;  their  earliest 
representatives,  in  the  New  Testament,  bear  witness  that  this 
change  in  their  experience  was  wrought  by  the  influence  of  Jesus 
Christ  upon  their  minds,  and  by  the  faith  which  He  awoke  in 
their  hearts  towards  Himself;  they  say  that  while  on  earth  He 
intended  to  produce  this  result,  that  He  felt  Himself  capable  of 
the  stupendous  task  of  creating  new  relations  between  God  and 
the  human  race,  that  He  regarded  even  His  death  as  a  means  to 
that  end,  that  He  expected  to  rise  again,  and  promised  to  establish 
permanent  and  universal  relations  with  all  men;  Christianity 
arose  because  those  people  believed  that  God  was  now  and  hence- 
forth related  to  human  history  through  that  one  person,  Jesus 
Christ,  and  because  they  believed  that  He  in  His  earthly  ministry 
had  expected  and  intended  to  occupy  that  position  of  immeas- 
urable glory.  Thus  are  set  before  us  two  fundamental  ques- 
tions, the  two  essential  foci  of  all  future  inquiry  into  the  origin 
and  truth  of  the  Christian  religion.  First,  was  the  experience 
of  these  people,  which  was  indubitably  most  real  and  most 
powerful,  also  clear  enough,  sane  enough,  intelligent  enough, 
to  make  their  witness  to  its  nature  and  origin  credible  ?  Second, 
does  their  witness  prove  that  before  His  death  Jesus  actually 
conducted  His  relations  towards  men  with  that  consciousness 
as  the  source  of  all  His  words  and  acts,  with  that  awful  purpose, 
the  occupancy  of  the  throne  of  God,  as  the  goal  of  His  active  will  ? 

It  is  evident  that  in  the  pursuit  of  this,  the  real  scientific 
method  of  inquiry,  the  student  must  exercise  the  utmost  critical 
freedom  upon  the  documents  from  which  our  information  comes, 
through  which  the  faith  of  the  Apostles  has  been  made  effective 
over  ever -wider  reaches  of  the  human  race  down  to  our  own  day. 
It  is  not  at  all  likely  that  the  English-speaking  churches  need  to 


THE    DOCTRINE    OF   CHRIST  231 

walk  in  all  the  steps  of  the  German  brethren.  Their  ways  are 
before  us,  and  we  know  which  have  been  found  to  lead  nowhere. 
They  have  suffered  and  triumphed  that  we  may  receive  the  fruit 
of  their  long,  costly,  and  splendid  labor.  Their  losses  and  their 
gains  are  common  property.  But  here  in  the  field  of  Christology 
we  stand  to-day,  after  seventy-five  years  of  warfare.  The  an- 
swer seems  to  be  growing  clearer.  The  constant  and  irrepress- 
ible repetition  of  the  unparalleled  question,  "Whom  say  ye  that 
I  am?"  is,  almost  of  itself,  forcing  men  to  see  that  no  one  who 
says,  "A  man  sent  from  God"  has  answered  truly.  The  only 
answer  which  seems  to  explain  the  problems  of  these  New  Testa- 
ment documents  and  these  expanding  conquests  of  the  Christian 
faith  is  the  original  answer  of  the  apostolic  leader,  "Thou  art 
the  Christ,"  and  its  exposition  by  Paul,  "  God  sent  His  own  Son 
in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh  and  as  an  offering  for  sin."  The 
Christian  Church  arose  and  is  spreading  through  the  world  by 
virtue  of  its  conviction  that  Jesus,  in  asking  that  question,  ex- 
pected then,  and  demands  now,  the  same  answer  from  all  human 
hearts. 

2.  The  Work  of  Christ.  —  The  work  of  Christ  for  mankind 
began  to  be  studied  in  a  systematic  manner  at  the  time  of  the 
Reformation.  Ritschl  has  pointed  out  that  a  very  great  con- 
tribution to  the  subject  was  made  when  it  was  conceived  under 
three  departments,  or  "offices,"  described  by  the  titles,  Prophet, 
Priest,  and  King.  A  Prophet  is,  of  course,  a  teacher  who  has 
been  evidently  fitted  to  reveal  the  character  and  will  of  God.  A 
Priest  is  one  who  makes  it  possible  for  a  sinful  conscience  to 
enter  the  terrible  presence  of  the  holiness  of  God,  and  live.  A 
King  is  one  who  establishes  and  administers  the  laws  of  life  and 
controls  the  fortunes  of  men.  Since  Jesus  Christ  stands  in 
divine  relations  to  the  human  race,  the  Reformers  felt  that  these 
three  words  might  well  be  used  to  describe  His  work  in  the  great 
aspects  of  Revelation,  Redemption,  and  Lordship. 

There  was  immediately  much  discussion  as  to  whether  His 
execution  of  these  offices  is  to  be  assigned  to  His  earthly  life, 
or  to  His  relations  and  powers  as  the  Risen  Lord.  The  early 
tendency  was  to  consider  His  work  as  Prophet,  or  revealer  of 
God,  and  as  King,  or  Head  of  the  Church,  less  fully  and  clearly 
in  the  light  of  His  ministry  among  men  (  status  exinanitionis) 
than  in  the  light  of  His  heavenly  reign   (status  exaltatiojiis). 


232  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

But  the  modern  mind  has  reversed  this  method.  The  historical 
interest  has  concentrated  attention  on  the  story  of  the  Gospels 
and  the  glories  of  His  human  nature.  Hence  the  "teaching  of 
Jesus"  has  become  one  of  the  great  topics  of  theological  discus- 
sion, and  the  "  Prophet  of  Nazareth  "  is  one  of  the  titles  by  which 
He  is  most  familiarly  designated.  During  the  last  half  of  the 
nineteenth  century  the  literature  on  this  aspect  of  the  work  of 
Christ  has  become  immense,  and  there  is  no  sign  yet  of  any 
abatement  in  its  volume. 

In  some  quarters  it  has  seemed  enough  to  set  forth  the  actual 
contents  of  His  authentic  sayings,  not  without  some  tribute  of 
admiration  for  His  religious  fervor  and  His  moral  elevation,  but 
with  the  conviction  that  His  real  service  is  to  be  found  in  those 
words  of  His  that  give  forth  most  light  about  the  Fatherhood 
of  God  and  the  Brotherhood  of  Man.  Here  may  be  named 
Strauss  and  Renan  in  the  last  century,  and  such  authors  as 
Dr.  G.  B.  Foster  (The  Finality  of  the  Christian  Religion)  and 
Dr.  N.  Schmidt  (The  Prophet  of  Nazareth)  in  this  century. 

But  the  vast  majority  of  scholars  affirm  more  of  Him  than 
this.  They  recognize  that  in  revealing  the  Father,  Jesus  used 
something  far  greater  than  oral  teaching,  even  when  supported, 
as  in  other  prophets,  by  a  sincere  and  earnest  life.  There  was 
that  in  the  very  quality  of  His  Person,  in  the  spirit  of  wisdom 
and  of  power  which  He  possessed,  which  made  Him  more  than  a 
mere  "teacher"  in  the  ordinary  sense.  Writers  like  Wendt  and 
Harnack  among  the  Germans,  Sabatier  among  the  French,  the 
author  of  Ecce  Homo,  Martineau  and  Stopford  Brooke  among 
the  English,  Professor  Francis  G.  Peabody  and  Dr.  George  H. 
Gilbert  in  this  country,  are  not  content  to  leave  Jesus  merely 
^'  as  one  of  the  prophets."  His  prophethood  is  of  a  distinct 
kind,  and  resides,  mysteriously,  no  doubt,  but  most  really  and 
powerfully,  in  His  own  soul.  "So  the  unexhausted  Gospel  of 
Jesus  touches  each  new  problem  and  new  need  with  its  illumi- 
nating power,  while  there  yet  remain  myriads  of  other  ways  of 
radiation  toward  other  souls  and  other  ages,  for  that  Life  which 
is  the  light  of  men"  (Peabody,  Jesus  Christ  and  the  Social 
Question). 

Those  who  emphasize  more  clearly  the  doctrine  of  the  In- 
carnation have  been  profoundly  influenced  by  the  movement 
which  thus  concentrates  its  force  upon  the  human  nature  and 


THE   DOCTRINE    OF   CHRIST  233 

practical  teaching  of  our  Lord.  They  have  not  paid  less  atten- 
tion to  the  details  of  His  teaching  and  its  bearing  upon  the  great 
problems  of  human  society  (e.g.,  A.  B.  Bruce,  The  Kingdom  of 
God,  The  Training  of  the  Twelve;  Shailer  Mathews,  The  Social 
Teaching  of  Jesus),  but  they  have  seen  in  these  teachings  only 
a  part  of  the  full  eflfect  of  Christ's  person  upon  the  relations  of 
God  and  man.  As  Dr.  Fairbairn  has  said,  "The  Teacher  made 
the  truth  He  taught";  and  if  this  be  so,  it  must  be  of  supreme 
moment  to  ascertain  all  we  can  about  Himself.  This  can  only  be 
done  from  Himself,  of  course,  by  studying  not  only  His  words, 
but  His  character.  His  works,  all  the  expressions  of  His  self- 
consciousness.  Hence  has  arisen  a  vast  literature  around  the 
question  of  the  consciousness  of  Jesus.  There  is  no  space  here 
to  describe  the  theological  significance  of  this  fascinating  and 
indeed  cardinal  discussion  in  the  work  of  the  last  twenty-five 
years.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  matter  is  still  being  investi- 
gated with  the  utmost  rigor.  Such  works  as  those  of  Grau  and 
Baldensperger  (Das  Selbstbewusstsein  Jesu),  of  Dr.  Forrest  (The 
Christ  of  History  and  of  Experience),  and  Dr.  Denney  (Jesus 
and  the  Gospels)  indicate  the  direction  in  which  the  minds  of 
believing  men  are  moving,  and  the  manner  in  which  this  phase 
of  the  prophetic  work  of  Christ  is  likely  to  enrich  as  well  as  con- 
firm the  faith  of  the  Church. 

The  kingly  office  of  Christ  has  received  little  direct  discussion 
in  our  period.  This  is  at  least  curious,  for  in  no  period  of  his- 
tory has  his  actual  lordship  over  not  only  the  conscience,  but 
the  active  life  of  man,  been  more  widely  recognized.  The  favor- 
ite name  by  which  many  speak  of  Him  is  "  the  Master,"  and  they 
use  it  as  a  rule  in  sincerity,  and  not  as  a  mere  conventional 
compromise  between  conservative  faith  and  radical  opinion. 
The  entire  missionary  movement  of  the  nineteenth  century  is  an 
overwhelming  evidence  of  His  actual  lordship  over  countless 
human  lives.  One  must  not  forget,  of  course,  that  in  Ecce  Homo 
Jesus  was  viewed  almost  exclusively  as  the  King,  the  founder  of 
a  society  whose  laws  He  ordained  and  whose  members  He  ruled. 
It  is  of  even  more  significance  that  Ritschl  made  the  lordship  of 
Jesus  the  supreme  category  in  his  analysis  of  the  Saviour's  work. 
The  other  offices  were  regarded  indeed  by  that  powerful  theolo- 
gian as  in  a  manner  subordinate  to  this.  Christ  was  viewed  by 
him  as  the  royal  prophet  and  the  royal  priest.     This  arose  from 


234  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

his  main  position  that  salvation  means  our  dehverance  from  the 
threatening  and  hostile  might  of  the  world  of  evil.  Jesus  Christ 
conquered  in  the  great  fight,  and  He  conquered  on  our  behalf. 
Before  His  faith,  His  love.  His  unsullied  and  unbeaten  w^ill, 
all  the  forces  of  evil  in  man  and  in  nature  fell  as  vanquished  hosts. 
This  is  the  triumph  of  a  King;  it  has  set  Him  on  the  throne  of 
the  Church's  trust  and  love  and  adoration.  All  that  He  was  as 
Prophet  or  as  Priest  can  then  derive  its  significance  only  from 
this  place  which  He  and  He  alone  must  ever  occupy  in  the  story 
of  man's  relations  with  God. 

From  these  brief  statements  it  becomes  evident  that  the  age 
has  not  been  propitious  for  a  thorough  and  confident  discussion 
of  these  two  offices  of  Christ.  They  cannot  be  completely  viewed 
in  the  light  of  His  earthly  ministry.  They  stand  there  —  if  only 
considered  there  —  too  near  the  level  of  other  prophets  and  royal 
spirits  among  men,  to  deserve  or  to  allow  of  that  kind  of  discussion 
which  alone  befits  the  Christian  consciousness.  But  there  are 
signs  that  the  circular  storm,  in  which  for  these  seventy-five 
years  the  New  Testament  writings  have  been  involved,  is  break- 
ing. As  men  become  increasingly  sure  that  the  Gospel  records, 
with  all  the  light  of  the  most  penetrating  criticism  upon  them,  do 
verily  preserve  the  image  of  a  superhuman  consciousness  and  a 
superhuman  triumph  over  sin  and  death,  the  relations  of  the  Risen 
Christ  to  the  Apostolic  band  begin  to  receive  a  new  and  deeper 
consideration.  When  men  believe  the  Gospels,  they  will  be- 
lieve the  Epistles ;  the  wholesale  rejecters  of  the  latter  only  select 
from  the  former  what  the  wayward  spirit  of  rejection  will  endure. 
But  to  accept  the  truth,  the  reality,  the  authority  of  the  Apostolic 
experience,  will  reveal  Christ  afresh  as  still  the  Prophet  of  God 
and  the  Lord  of  humanity  through  His  Spirit. 

When  we  turn  to  the  consideration  of  that  aspect  of  the  work 
of  Christ  in  which  He  is  said  to  have  acted  as  our  Priest,  we  are 
confronted  with  the  inexhaustible  discussions  of  the  Atonement. 
The  nineteenth  century  was  peculiarly  prolific  of  these,  and  we 
can  do  no  more  than  indicate  certain  lines  of  movement  in  the 
wide  field  of  controversy. 

In  America,  in  the  year  1834,  two  views  of  the  death  of  Christ 
held  sway  among  orthodox  theologians.  Among  Congrega- 
tionalists  that  one  prevailed  which  is  known  as  the  Governmental 
theory,  and  which  traces  its  lineage  back  to  Grotius,  the  great 


THE   DOCTRINE    OF   CHRIST  •       235 

Dutch  lawyer  and  theologian  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Worked 
out,  with  readaptations  to  this  climate,  by  the  Edwardses,  father 
and  son,  it  obtained  such  influence  as  to  become  the  main  dis- 
tinctive feature  of  the  so-called  New  England  theology.  It 
allied  itself  easily  with  the  Calvinistic  conception  of  God  as 
sovereign  ruler  of  the  world,  but  tried  to  avoid  its  emphasis  on 
penal  satisfaction.  In  His  government  of  man  God  has  or- 
dained the  laws  of  righteousness,  and  He  must  make  those  laws 
effective.  This  is  done  by  a  system  of  rewards  and  punish- 
ments. But  since  man  has  sinned,  and  God  in  His  grace  would 
save  him  from  the  righteous  results  of  sin  and  restore  the  lost 
order  of  His  realm,  a  way  must  be  found  for  maintaining  that 
order  while  man  escapes  his  doom.  Forgiveness  without  some 
indubitable  proof  of  God's  inflexible  hatred  of  sin  would  amount 
to  condonation  of  the  evil  thing,  and  would  therefore  be  im- 
possible. In  the  death  of  Christ  that  proof  has  been  given. 
*'  God  sending  His  own  Son  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  man  and  as 
an  offering  for  sin  condemned  sin  in  the  flesh."  The  direct 
object  and  effect  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  then,  was  neither  to 
appease  divine  wrath,  since  it  was  prompted  by  divine  love,  nor 
to  offer  to  God  an  equivalent  in  penalty  for  the  penalties  His 
love  could  remit  and  His  justice  would  inflict.  The  object  was 
to  prove  to  man  that  God  in  the  act  of  pardon  maintained  His 
righteous  law  inviolable.  Thus,  to  use  the  words  of  Professor 
Foster,  in  describing  the  last  great  exponent  of  the  Governmental 
theory,  Edwards  A.  Park's  position,  God  "sets  forth  His  Son  as 
the  sacrifice  of  sin,  saying  explicitly  that  his  sufferings  are  sub- 
stituted for  the  punishment  of  all  who  will  accept  of  His  salva- 
tion by  believing  on  Him"  (History  of  New  England  Theology, 
p.  519),  As  all  punishment  of  an  offender  has  the  double  office 
of  vindicating  the  majesty  of  the  law,  and  so  of  the  lawgiver,  and 
of  deterring  other  free  beings  from  offending,  so  Christ's  death, 
in  which  He  endured  the  penalty  of  sin  and  in  which  He  acted 
for  the  express  purpose  of  saving  men,  operates  in  that  twofold 
manner.  Men  see  in  His  cross  the  will  of  God  concerning  sin, 
and  thus  His  offer  of  pardon  is  made  consistent  with  man's 
abiding  sense  of  His  righteousness. 

In  the  Governmental  theory  an  earnest  attempt  is  made  to 
escape  the  great  moral  difficulties  which  seem  to  be  involved  in 
the  older  Penal  Satisfaction  theory  in  its  various  phases.     In 


236  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

America  this  latter  theory  was  maintained  chiefly  in  Presbyterian 
circles,  and  had  for  its  most  strenuous  champions  the  two  Hodges 
of  Princeton  and  W.  G.  T.  Shedd  of  Union  Theological  Seminary, 
According  to  Charles  A.  Hodge  the  atonement  consisted  in  this, 
that  the  death  of  Christ  was  a  satisfaction  offered  to  the  justice 
and  the  law  of  God.  Justice  in  God  demands  that  every  sin 
shall  be  punished,  and  the  immutable  law  of  God  demands  a 
flawless  fulfillment  of  its  demands.  Each  demand  must  be  met. 
If,  then,  God  would  have  men  escape  the  punishment  which 
justice  demands,  some  one  must  satisfy  "justice";  and  if  God 
would  have  men  delivered  from  the  necessity  of  a  personal  and 
sinless  obedience  to  law,  some  one  must  satisfy  the  "law." 
This  double  satisfaction  has  been  offered  in  the  death  of  One 
who  was  both  God  and  man.  The  "intrinsic  dignity"  of  His 
Person  made  His  voluntary  sacrifice  on  our  behalf  the  equiva- 
lent at  once  of  that  obedience  to  the  law  which  we  have  not 
rendered,  and  of  that  punishment  of  our  sin  which  is  to  be  re- 
mitted. Hodge  was  anxious  to  avoid,  on  the  one  hand,  the  Gov- 
ernmental theory,  which,  he  said,  made  the  cross  "but  a  symbol" 
(Systematic  Theology,  II,  575).  On  the  other  hand,  he  felt  com- 
pelled to  insist  that  in  God's  attitude  towards  sin  and  in  His 
vindication  of  justice  there  was  nothing  of  vindictiveness,  and 
that  in  Christ's  penal  sufferings  we  are  not  to  find  a  mere  quid 
pro  quo.  "  He  did  not  suffer  either  in  kind  or  degree  what  sinners 
would  have  suffered."  But  "His  sufferings  and  death  were 
adequate  to  accomplish  all  the  ends  designed  by  the  punishment 
of  the  sins  of  men"  (Ibid.,  p.  471). 

The  famous  work  of  R.  W.  Dale  entitled  The  Atonement 
partakes  in  some  measure  of  both  the  theories  described  above. 
But  it  has  a  definite  view  of  the  problem  which  these  theories 
both  avoided.  That  problem  is  bluntly  stated  in  the  question, 
"How  can  it  be  justice  that  the  righteous  should  suffer  for  the 
unrighteous  ?  How  can  God  be  held  responsible  for  the  substitu- 
tion of  the  innocent  for  the  guilty  ?  "  The  answer  came  through 
a  fresh  consideration  of  what  is  meant  by  the  eternal  righteous- 
ness of  God.  Dale  sought  to  overcome  the  dangerous  separation, 
which  haunts  the  pages  of  Hodge,  between  justice  and  God  Him- 
self, as  if  God  were  Himself  subject  to  a  law  above  Himself. 
Dale  insisted  that  "Hisrelation  to  the  law  is  not  a  relation  of  sub- 
jection but  of  identity.  .  .  .     In  God  the  law  is  alive;  it  reigns 


THE    DOCTRINE    OF    CHRIST  237 

on  His  throne,  sways  His  scepter,  is  crowned  with  His  glory." 
Hence  punishment  is  "an  act  in  which  the  identity  of  the  Will  of 
God  and  the  eternal  Law  of  Righteousness  is  asserted  and  ex- 
pressed." Christ  as  the  Son  of  God  and  Son  of  Man  is  the  Head 
of  the  Human  Race.  In  Him  God  is  personally  and  directly 
involved  in  man's  moral  situation.  When  Christ  suffers  on  the 
cross  for  man,  enduring  the  penalties  of  sin,  it  is  not  as  an  irre- 
sponsible outsider,  a  mere,  innocent  stranger  arrested  and  sub- 
stituted for  some  one  else.  He  is  at  once  the  representative  of 
the  eternal  law  which  man  broke  and  of  the  race  which  broke  it. 

Before  Dale's  argument  was  published  there  had  already  set 
in  a  powerful  reaction  against  all  so-called  objective  theories 
of  the  Atonement.  The  earlier  theories  were  felt  to  represent 
God  too  often  as  if  He  were,  to  use  the  late  D.  W.  Simon's  phrase, 
in  "official"  instead  of  "personal"  relations  with  the  children  of 
men.  Much  emphasis  was  therefore  laid  upon  His  love  as  the 
source  and  meaning  of  the  whole  sacrifice  of  Christ.  There 
were  varying  degrees  in  which  the  Moral  Influence  theory,  as 
it  was  called,  was  developed.  Some  maintained  that  Jesus  Christ 
died  simply  to  show  the  love  of  God.  The  Divine  righteous- 
ness was  proved  by  the  whole  life  of  Christ,  by  His  obedient 
spirit,  His  unbroken  faith ;  but  in  His  whole  attitude  towards 
men,  praying  even  for  His  murderers,  the  complete  and  heart- 
winning  love  of  God  was  revealed. 

The  leading  and  deeper  representatives  of  this  reaction,  like 
Horace  Bushnell  and  F.  D.  Maurice,  were  unable  to  get  away 
altogether  from  the  fact  that  the  death  of  Christ  has  made  an 
objective  difference  in  the  relations  of  God  and  man.  Bushnell, 
as  Stevens  (The  Christian  Doctrine  of  Salvation,  p.  236)  has 
shown,  did  insist  that  the  imperial  authority  of  the  righteous 
law  was  established  and  not  weakened  in  that  death.  Maurice 
and  others  introduced  what  may  be  called  a  mystical  element 
through  their  insistence  upon  Christ's  eternal  headship  of  the 
race,  as  in  the  following  words  of  Maurice:  "In  it  [the  cross] 
all  the  wisdom  and  truth  and  glory  of  God  were  manifested  to 
the  creature,  and  in  it  man  is  presented  as  a  holy  and  acceptable 
sacrifice  to  God." 

Another  and  most  influential  line  in  the  development  of  this 
doctrine  appeared  in  the  famous  work  of  McLeod  Campbell, 
The  Nature  of  the  Atonement.     The  effort  was  here  made  to  get 


238  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

beneath  the  merely  legal  terminology  to  a  spiritual  principle  in 
the  work  of  Christ  upon  the  cross.  Campbell's  emphasis  was 
placed  upon  the  fact  that  there  are  two  ways  of  ending  sin  —  one 
is  punishment,  the  other  is  repentance.  In  the  latter,  when 
it  is  ideal  and  perfect,  sin  is  repudiated  and  done  to  death. 
True  repentance  means  the  recognition  and  confession  of  the 
eternal  righteousness  of  the  law  of  God  and  the  devotion  of 
self  to  its  fulfillment.  Christ  as  the  Son  of  Man  did  on  behalf 
of  man  make  this  most  perfect  confession  of  the  inherent  evil 
of  man's  sin  and  the  absolute  claims  of  God's  holy  law.  Hav- 
ing done  this.  He  had  done  for  man  all  that  God  demands  as  a 
precondition  to  the  offer  of  pardon.  This  view  has  been  in- 
fluential upon  all  subsequent  thinkers,  but  has  nowhere  been 
so  fully  adopted  and  worked  out  as  in  R.  C.  Moberley's 
brilliant  and  impressive  volume.  Atonement  and  Personality. 
The  analyses  which  that  work  contains  of  "righteousness," 
"punishment,"  and  "penitence,"  the  emphasis  upon  the  idea 
that  the  Death  on  the  Cross  must  not  be  considered  as  a  com- 
plete transaction  within  itself,  but  as  a  part  or  an  element, 
essential  and  vital  and  objective,  in  a  process  whose  culmination 
is  reached  in  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  human  heart, 
are  most  impressive  contributions  to  the  subject  before  us. 

In  Germany  the  drift  of  interest  and  the  pressure  of  other 
problems  has  prevented  the  production  of  so  many  distinct 
monographs  on  the  Atonement  as  in  the  English-speaking  world. 
We  must  seek  the  movement  of  opinion  in  the  dogmatic  works  of 
men  like  Gess,  Dorner,  Philippi,  Kaftan,  F.  A.  B.  Nitzsch,  and 
others.  The  later  writers  are  profoundly  influenced  by  Ritschl. 
Stevens  (op.  cit.)  places  Ritschl  among  the  holders  of  a  subjective 
theory,  but  it  is  probably  less  than  justice  to  Ritschl  to  do  this. 
He  is  really  not  very  far  from  the  position  of  Maurice  and  others. 
He  holds,  it  is  true,  that  Christ's  death  came  to  Him  in  the  way 
of  His  vocation,  that  the  Cross  is  the  historical  close  of  His  work 
of  revealing  God's  love,  and  that  His  faith  and  love  displayed 
unto  the  end  do  produce  in  us  a  new  confidence,  assurance  of 
God's  love  toward  us,  and  of  His  will  to  forgive  and  deliver  us. 
But  Ritschl  recognizes  another  element  in  the  situation.  For  in 
Christ  we  must  recognize  the  presence  of  the  very  Word  of  God. 
In  His  conscious  fulfillment  of  His  mission  He  cherishes  as  His 
own  end  and  purpose  that  very  end  which  God  cherishes  towards 


THE    DOCTRINE    OF    CHRIST  239 

humanity.  In  a  unique  manner  God  thus  sees  in  Christ  His 
own  end  fulfilled,  and  that  fact  realized  there  objectively  on  the 
Cross  becomes  the  basis  on  which  the  universal  revelation  of 
God's  will  of  love  is  made  known  to  mankind. 

These  references  to  the  development  of  the  doctrine  of  Atone- 
ment must  suffice  here.  Innumerable  are  the  recent  works 
to  which  reference  might  be  made,  such  as  W.  L.  Walker's 
The  Cross  and  the  Kingdom,  J.  Scott  Lidgett's  The  Spiritual 
Principle  of  the  Atonement,  among  the  more  scholastic ;  J.  M. 
Campbell's  The  Heart  of  the  Gospel,  and  H.  C.  Mabie's  The 
Meaning  and  Message  of  the  Cross,  among  the  more  popular 
interpretations,  all  of  which  show  the  perpetual  fascination 
of  the  great  subject.  They  indicate  indeed  that  we  have  broken 
away  from  the  more  crude  forms  of  statement  in  which  objec- 
tive theories  were  given,  when  personal  satisfaction  and  govern- 
mental exigency  were  alone  considered.  And  yet  they  show  with 
marvelous  unanimity  (even  the  queer  theory  of  F.  A.  B.  Nitzsch 
in  his  Evangelische  Dogmatik)  that  the  Christian  consciousness 
cannot  be  content  without  seeing  in  the  Cross  of  Christ  the  work 
of  one  who  as  our  Priest  offering  a  sacrifice,  or  as  our  King  win- 
ning a  supreme  victory  over  evil  and  death,  has  done  something 
which  made  the  Gospel  of  the  divine  mercy  possible.  There  God 
and  man  still  meet  as  at  a  trysting-place  of  the  spiritual  universe, 
God  to  offer  His  pardon  and  man  in  penitence  to  accept  it. 
Other  such  spot  history  knows  not,  nor  has  the  soul  of  man 
dreamed  of  it.  In  that  broken  heart  of  the  Son  of  God  and 
Son  of  Man  Creator  and  creature  stand  so  related  that  the 
holy  love  of  God  has  its  way  and  the  spirit  of  man  finds  its  rest. 


THE   DOCTRINE   OF   THE   LAST   THINGS 

Rev.  Charles  Marsh  Mead,  Ph.D.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

New  Haven,  Conn. 

Seventy-five  years  ago  the  Protestant  creeds  of  this  country 
expressed  generally  the  view  that  the  future  condition  of  men  is 
determined  by  their  present  life,  and  that  those  who  die  im- 
penitent are  forever  lost.  More  particularly,  it  was  held  that 
salvation  depends  on  faith  in  Christ,  so  that  all  who  have  for 
whatever  reason  failed  to  exercise  that  faith  before  death  are 
eternally  punished. 

Against  this  doctrine  there  have  always  been  protests;  within 
the  last  three  quarters  of  a  century  they  have  been  especially 
numerous  and  earnest.  These  protests  have  been  provoked  by 
certain  questionable  features  of  the  old  Protestant  type  of  be- 
lief.    These  features  are  especially :  — 

(a)  The  emphasis  placed  upon  retributive  justice  as  the 
dominating  attribute  of  God.  The  effect  of  this,  when  com- 
bined with  the  assumption  that  there  is  no  possibility  of  salvation 
for  any  one  dying  impenitent,  was  to  make  it  probable  that  the 
saved  are  but  a  trifling  fraction  of  the  human  race.  Pastor 
Ludwig  Harms,  of  Herrmannsburg  in  Hannover,  a  man  of 
wonderful  power  and  of  most  earnest  piety,  is  said  to  have 
estimated  that  only  about  one  tenth  of  the  Roman  Catholics, 
one  tenth  of  the  Lutherans,  and  one  hundredth  of  the  Reformed 
Protestants,  are  saved,  and  that  all  others  go  to  eternal  perdi- 
tion. So  pessimistic  a  view  as  this  was  doubtless  an  extreme 
one;  but  it  was  difficult,  holding  the  general  premises  which 
were  accepted,  for  one  to  come  to  a  much  more  cheerful  con- 
clusion. But  such  an  estimate  of  the  success  of  the  work  of 
redemption  was  not  only  disheartening,  it  involved  a  serious 
reflection  on  the  wisdom  and  love  of  God.  And  when  men 
began  to  emphasize  love  as  the  regnant  divine  attribute,  it 
became  impossible  to  rest  contented  with  such  a  doleful 
soteriology. 

240 


THE    DOCTRINE    OF   THE    LAST   THINGS     241 

(b)  The  emphasis  placed  on  physical  death  as  determining 
men's  future  condition.  The  reaction  from  the  Papal  doctrine 
of  purgatory,  with  its  accompanying  practice  of  selling  indul- 
gences, led  men  to  reject  all  notions  of  an  intermediate  state, 
and  to  conceive  the  future  life  as  one  in  which  the  condition  of 
all  men  is  at  once  irrevocably  fixed,  either  in  consummate  bliss 
or  in  consummate  misery.  An  almost  necessary  corollary  was 
the  assumption  that  death  works  magically,  suddenly  transform- 
ing even  very  imperfect  sanctification  into  perfect  holiness,  and 
the  most  amiable  state  of  unregeneracy  into  a  desperate  rebel- 
liousness against  God,  Such  a  conception,  at  war  as  it  is  with 
all  known  pyschological  phenomena,  has  naturally  provoked 
opposition;  and  even  when  the  opposition  does  not  go  so  far  as 
to  reject  the  doctrine  that  this  life  is  the  only  time  of  probation, 
the  tendency  has  been  to  hold  to  a  gradual  process  of  moral 
growth  or  deterioration  as  characteristic  of  the  future  life.  But 
opposition  to  the  notion  of  a  magical  effect  of  death  on  the 
religious  character  naturally  tends  to  the  rejection  of  the  notion 
that  death  is  the  end  of  probation. 

(c)  The  emphasis  placed  on  future  happiness  and  future 
suffering  as  being  positive  awards,  rather  than  the  natural 
result  of  moral  character.  Retribution  was  largely  conceived 
to  be  physical  torment  inflicted  on  the  guilty,  as  a  human  judge 
pronounces  a  sentence  of  imprisonment  on  an  offender.  The 
modern  tendency  to  conceive  all  things  as  under  a  reign  of  law 
leads  men,  rather,  to  think  of  sin  as  working  out  its  own  retribu- 
tion. This  tendency  goes  so  far  as  to  make  many  even  affirm 
that  forgiveness  is  an  absolute  impossibility. 

Closely  connected  with  this  evolutionary  conception  of  things 
is  a  disposition  to  regard  the  Biblical  accounts  of  the  second 
coming  of  Christ,  the  general  resurrection,  and  the  general 
judgment,  not  as  showing  that  these  events  take  place  at  one 
time  and  once  for  all,  but  rather  as  rhetorical  modes  of  picturing 
a  process  that  is  going  on  continually. 

The  proposed  modifications  of  the  older  eschatology  are 
principally  the  following :  — 

I.  The  doctrine  of  Implicit  Faith.  By  this  is  meant  that, 
though  there  is  no  sufficient  reason  to  assume  the  continuance 
of  probation  after  death,  yet  salvation  does  not  necessarily 
depend  on  faith  in  a  known  Messiah,  but  on  the  possession  of 


242  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

such  a  state  of  heart  as  would  result  in  such  faith  if  he  were 
made  known.  Consequently  it  is  held  that,  while  all  men  are 
judged  according  to  the  "deeds  done  in  the  body,"  yet  they  are 
judged  impartially,  and  it  is  not  necessary  to  relegate  any  one 
to  final  condemnation  simply  because  he  dwells  in  a  heathen 
land,  or  has  been  deprived  of  religious  instruction.  In  favor 
of  this  view  is  adduced  the  fact  that  the  Bible  evidently  reckons 
among  the  saved  not  only  ancient  pious  Jews,  who  knew  nothing 
of  Jesus  the  Nazarene,  but  men  of  every  nation  who  fear  God 
and  work  righteousness. 

2.  The  doctrine  of  Conditional  Immortality.  This  doctrine, 
which  has  obtained  a  large  vogue  in  England  —  larger  than  in 
the  United  States  —  denies  the  essential  immortality  of  man, 
and  affirms  that  immortality  is  a  gift  conferred  only  on  those 
who  believe  in  Christ.  Accordingly,  those  who  die  in  unbelief 
are  exterminated,  and  the  doctrine  of  future  torment  falls 
away.  This  view  is  enforced  by  the  assumption  that,  when  the 
Scriptures  speak  of  "death,"  "destruction,"  etc.,  as  visited  upon 
sinners,  such  language  means  annihilation.  This  assumption, 
however,  if  consistently  carried  out,  requires  one  to  hold  that 
the  first  death  involves  the  end  of  spiritual,  as  well  as  of  bodily, 
existence.  But  such  a  notion  seems  to  be  inconsistent  with 
the  general  teaching  of  the  Bible  (which  is  mainly  relied  on  in 
support  of  the  theory  of  conditional  immortality)  so  that  others 
of  this  school,  though  arguing  that  "death"  means  extermina- 
tion, yet  admit  that  the  souls  of  all  men  survive  the  death  of  the 
body,  but  hold  that  the  wicked  dead,  after  receiving  the  resur- 
rection body,  are  finally  exterminated. 

A  modification  of  this  doctrine  is,  that  sin,  being  essentially 
destructive  in  its  nature,  tends  to  impair  the  soul,  and  will  gradu- 
ally, in  the  indefinite  future,  bring  conscious  existence  to  an  end. 

3.  The  doctrine  of  Future  Probation.  This  consists  in  the 
belief  that  the  time  of  probation  does  not  end  with  this  life,  but 
extends  into  the  future  life,  where  those  who  have  had  no  op- 
portunity, or  no  fair  opportunity,  to  learn  of  Christ  and  the  way 
of  salvation,  have  it  granted  to  them.  This  theory  leaves  un- 
determined the  question,  how  many  finally  comply  with  the 
terms  of  salvation.  It  only  insists  that  it  is  not  reasonable  to 
suppose  that  the  possibility  of  saving  faith  is  always  and  every- 
where terminated  by  death  —  an  arrangement  which  seems  to 


THE    DOCTRINE    OF   THE    LAST   THINGS     243 

impose  upon  men  conditions  of  salvation  with  which  many,  or 
the  most,  of  them  are  unable  to  comply  in  this  life.  This  view 
has  a  large  following  in  Germany  and  the  United  States. 

4.  The  doctrine  of  Universal  Salvation.  This  differs  from 
the  foregoing  in  that  it  assumes  that  all  men  will  not  only  have 
an  opportunity  to  accept  the  terms  of  salvation,  but  that  all 
will  sooner  or  later  embrace  it.  One  form  of  this  doctrine  main- 
tains that  all  men,  even  the  most  wicked,  are  at  death  im- 
mediately translated  into  a  state  of  heavenly  sinlessness  and 
blessedness.  This  form  of  Universalism  was  favored  by  Hosea 
Ballou,  and  largely  by  Universalists  in  the  early  part  of  the 
last  century.  But  it  was  not  possible  for  such  a  belief  to 
persist  long;  and  Universalists  now  generally  hold  to  Restora- 
tionism,  i.e.,  the  final  salvation  of  all  after  an  intermediate  state 
in  the  future  world,  in  which  temporary,  but  remedial,  punish- 
ment is  suffered  by  those  who  die  in  a  state  of  impenitence. 

None  of  these  doctrines  is  new  in  the  sense  of  having  origi- 
nated in  the  last  century.  They  have  been  held  by  many  from 
the  earliest  times.  But  they  have  been  for  the  most  part  under 
the  ban,  and  have  not  until  of  late  been  extensively  advocated 
within  the  Churches. 

These  departures  from  the  traditional  eschatology  differ, 
however,  so  much  from  one  another  that  they  do  not  seem  likely 
to  issue  in  any  one  new  doctrinal  statement  which  can  serve 
as  a  substitute  for  the  older  view.  They  cannot  all  be  blended 
together.  Belief  in  future  probation,  for  example,  is  incom- 
patible with  belief  in  the  annihilation  of  the  impenitent.  But 
they  have  a  common  origin  —  revulsion  from  the  severity  which 
characterized  the  so-called  orthodox  doctrine.  How  far  the 
older  tenet  is  still  held  in  its  integrity,  it  is  difficult  to  judge;  but 
it  is  certain  that  there  has  been  a  very  large  defection  from  it. 

In  general,  it  must  be  said  that  the  recent  discussions  and  re- 
visions of  eschatological  doctrines,  while  they  have  not  resulted 
in  general  adoption  of  any  particular  restatement  of  the  doc- 
trines, may  be  described  as  tending  in  the  following  directions :  — 

(i)  They  tend  to  a  much  more  hopeful  view  concerning  the 
ultimate  destiny  of  the  human  race;  more  hopefulness  as  to  the 
opportunities  and  probabilities  of  spiritual  renovation  and  sanc- 
tification;  more  disposition  to  reject  the  tenet  of  a  vengeful  or 
endless  infliction  of  torment  on  the  guilty;    more  faith  in  the 


244  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

patient  love  and  large  resourcefulness  of  God  in  his  dealings 
with  men. 

(2)  They  tend  to  a  toning  down  of  the  dogmatic  positiveness 
which  used  to  characterize  the  treatment  of  these  topics.  It  is 
recognized  that  the  old-fashioned  method  of  defending  doctrines 
by  the  adducing  of  isolated  proof-texts  —  always  a  double- 
edged  or  many-edged  sword  —  is  unsatisfactory;  and  that, 
especially  with  reference  to  matters  which  belong  to  a  mode  of 
existence  quite  beyond  our  cognition,  a  certain  agnosticism  is 
justifiable.  The  very  diverseness  of  the  efforts  to  reach  the 
truth  admonishes  to  modesty  in  the  promulgation  of  one's 
views. 

This  diverseness  results  in  part  from  the  different  emphasis 
placed  on  the  antithetic  doctrines  of  human  freedom  and  divine 
sovereignty.  If  one  considers  predominantly  the  grace  and 
power  of  God,  he  will  be  inclined  to  hold  that  somehow,  sooner 
or  later,  evil  will  be  overcome,  and  all  rational  beings  will  be 
made  holy  beings.  But  if  one  considers  chiefly  the  moral  free- 
dom of  man  and  the  cumulative,  enslaving  power  of  sin,  he  will 
be  disposed  to  ask  what  assurance  there  is  that  what  God  has 
not  been  able  to  accomplish  here  he  will  be  able  to  accomplish 
hereafter. 

As  to  the  nature  and  source  of  the  evidences  adduced  for  the 
different  eschatological  views,  it  might  seem  as  if  here  peculiarly 
the  teaching  of  the  New  Testament  would  be  decisive,  since, 
where  human  experience  is  wholly  wanting,  divine  revelation  is 
especially  needed.  But,  as  in  regard  to  all  other  doctrines,  so 
here  also,  the  passages  adduced,  and  the  weight  attached  to 
them,  are  very  largely  determined  by  the  prepossessions  of  the 
different  investigators.  Rational  considerations,  and  differences 
of  emotional  temperament,  play  their  part  in  the  selection  of 
passages  to  be  used  as  proof-texts  and  in  the  exegesis  of  them. 
Thus  it  may  be  noticed  that  the  advocates  of  the  "larger  hope" 
respecting  the  fate  of  the  dead  are  apt  to  go  to  the  Pauline 
writings  for  Biblical  support  rather  than  to  the  Gospels,  even 
when  they  in  general  rank  Jesus  high  above  Paul  as  a  religious 
teacher. 

But  there  are  eschatological  questions  which  are  not  only 
not  settled,  but  are  scarcely  alluded  to  in  the  New  Testament, 
but  which  none  the  less  are  ardently  debated  by  theologians. 


THE    DOCTRINE    OF   THE    LAST   THINGS     245 

Such,  for  example,  is  the  question  concerning  the  future  state  of 
those  who  die  in  infancy.  In  the  earher  centuries,  under  the 
influence  especially  of  the  doctrine  of  original  sin,  the  general 
tendency  was  to  hold  that  infants  carry  with  them  into  the  other 
life  a  sinful  and  guilty  nature,  and  are  exposed  therefor  to  pun- 
ishment, baptism  administered  before  death  being  the  only 
safeguard  against  their  eternal  damnation,  though  their  punish- 
ment was  regarded  as  milder  than  that  of  those  who  had  added 
willful,  to  their  innate,  sin.  In  the  modern  Protestant  Churches, 
on  the  contrary,  there  is  an  almost  universal  repudiation  of  the 
doctrine  of  infant  damnation  in  every  form.  But  in  their  op- 
position to  this  many  men  run  into  a  conception  of  the  magical 
influence  of  death  which,  with  reference  to  adults,  they  are 
more  and  more  inclined  to  reject.  Though  they  lay  less  stress 
on  the  depravity  of  young  children  than  was  formerly  done, 
yet,  in  affirming  the  universal  salvation  of  children  who  die  in 
infancy,  they  are  unable  to  fix  the  age  at  which  irresponsible 
infancy  ends,  make  a  sharp  distinction  between  infants  and 
adults  as  regards  God's  terms  of  salvation,  and  seem  to  con- 
ceive of  even  the  youngest  infants  as  all  alike  suddenly  changed 
into  intelligent,  holy,  and  singing  cherubs  as  soon  as  death  trans- 
fers them  to  the  other  world. 

This  is  not  the  place  for  a  critical  discussion  of  this  topic  or 
any  other.  It  is  enough  to  allude  to  it  as  one  evidence  that 
eschatological  questions  are  not  of  easy  solution,  and  that  the 
dogmatic  settlement  of  them  seems  still  to  be  far  off.  There 
are  many  questions  respecting  the  future  life,  very  fascinating 
to  our  natural  curiosity,  which  are  not  answered  definitely 
either  by  Scripture  or  by  religious  insight. 


THE   BIBLICAL   SYNTHETIC   DISCIPLINES 

Professor  Clark  Smith  Beardslee,  D.D. 
Hartford  Theological  Seminary 

Within  the  last  two  decades  of  our  Seminary  life  one  sig- 
nificant evolution  has  been  the  division  of  labor.  This  change 
has  set  in  the  department  of  Systematics  three  chairs,  where 
before  was  one.  One  of  these  new  chairs  came  to  be  called 
Biblical  Dogmatics  and  Ethics.  Its  proper  form  and  stature 
were  but  dimly  seen.  Its  title  was  a  compromise,  fully  accept- 
able to  none. 

The  chair  had  to  locate  itself  encyclopaedically.  Some  things 
soon  became  clear.  Its  place  among  other  disciplines,  in  theory 
at  least,  could  be  defined.  This  was  settled  by  the  two  essential 
features  of  the  new  enterprise:  its  material  was  to  be  purely 
Biblical;  its  method  was  to  be,  in  its  culmination,  rigidly  syn- 
thetic. That  is,  the  work  was  to  aim,  ideally,  at  a  philosophic 
consensus  of  Messianic  Truth  —  a  task  for  an  age  indeed ;  but 
a  task,  it  was  believed,  worthy  of  an  age. 

The  pursuit  of  this  work  has  made  clear  the  value  of  all  the 
other  Biblical  sciences,  laying,  as  they  do,  its  foundations  and 
providing  its  supplies.  The  pursuit  of  the  work  has  also  dis- 
closed a  prolific  cluster  of  kindred  disciplines,  all  synthetic  in 
form,  all  Biblical  in  material,  all  developed  by  an  identical 
method,  all  standing  where  Biblical  studies  culminate,  and  all 
bearing  a  regulative  mien.  The  treatment  of  any  one  of  these 
would  serve  equally  well  to  illustrate  their  common  method  and 
rationale.  For  this  statement  Biblical  Ethics  is  selected  as 
the  sample  Biblical  Synthetic  Discipline. 

The  pursuit  of  this  sort  of  study,  at  once  Biblical  and  syn- 
thetic, will  reveal  in  Messianic  literature  one  outstanding  char- 
acteristic. It  concentrates  in  Christ.  Diversities  that  seem 
discordant  merge  in  His  voice  into  consonance.  There  is  in 
Him  transcendent  capacity  to  interpret  and  illuminate. 
Throughout    Scripture   the   meaning   of   His   presence   within 

246 


THE    BIBLICAL    SYNTHETIC   DISCIPLINES     247 

Scripture  is  seen  to  be  regulative.     This  is  a  primary  verity  for 
any  seeker  after  any  major  Biblical  synthesis. 

This  brings  to  the  front  in  such  a  study  the  records  of  the 
Christ  in  our  Christian  Gospels.  Here  again  the  search  for 
synthesis  is  confronted  by  certain  inwrought  Scripture  traits 
that  persist  in  claiming  respect.  Indeed,  they  prescribe  the 
method  of  study.  Just  here  it  ought  to  be  seen  that  this  problem 
of  method  now  emerging  is  not  being  approached  arbitrarily. 
Method  of  study  depends  upon  material  studied.  Scanning, 
with  this  in  mind,  these  Gospel  records,  one  sees  that  they  are 
astir  with  life;  that  all  this  human  interplay  is  manifold,  com- 
posite, not  to  say  complex  and  even  contradictory;  and  also 
that  in  all  these  lively,  complicated  scenes  the  simple  presence 
of  Christ  singly  rules  and  grandly  unifies. 

These  three  traits  of  these  Gospel  records  ordain  how  any 
study  looking  towards  a  synthesis  of  their  Messianic  truth  must 
obediently  proceed.  Facing  continually  towards  living  men, 
its  formulae  must  not  fail  of  human  vitality.  Looking  continu- 
ally into  scenes  and  materials  that  are  complex,  any  study  that 
is  discriminate  will  be  compelled  to  practice  close  analysis. 
And,  standing  daily  before  the  Christ  as  in  thought  and  deed  He 
conducts  into  unison  all  confusion,  one  will  struggle  towards 
His  command  of  the  art  of  synthesis.  This  stern  and  pure  ideal 
is  the  method  of  Biblical  Ethics.  It  is  an  endeavor  to  imitate 
the  life,  the  insight,  and  the  symmetry  of  Christ. 

But,  as  this  method  of  study  proceeds,  a  momentous  issue 
comes  to  view.  There  is  in  Christ  a  marvelous  mingling  of 
fullness  and  simplicity.  He  is  infinitely  facile,  and  yet  always 
the  same.  He  can  concentrate  upon  a  single  word  or  a  single 
act,  while  holding  in  His  mind  and  hand  all  wisdom  and  all  the 
world.  This  living  combination  of  freedom  and  constancy,  of 
concreteness  and  completeness,  is  of  mighty  purport  for  one  who 
is  seeking  to  find  the  unity  that  comprehends  the  diversity  within 
the  Gospel  scenes.  One  of  the  mightiest  of  its  disclosures  is 
the  revelation  of  the  vast  sweep  of  a  single  scene.  What 
seems  at  first  altogether  simple  is  found  at  last  to  be  altogether 
sovereign.  This  brings  one  to  see  that  these  several  Gospel 
incidents  offer  an  ideal  field  to  any  seeker  after  a  synthesis  of 
the  Christian  ethical  life.  In  many  a  single  scene  that  seems 
quite  easy  to  compass  and  comprehend  the  posture  and  outlook 


248  RECENT  CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

of  Christ  are  found  to  be  not  tentative  and  limited,  but  positive 
and  world-commanding.  To  find  the  secret  of  this  easy  blend- 
ing of  things  concrete  in  things  supreme  is  found  to  be  the  first 
task  and  the  final  achievement  of  this  work.  Here  comes  to 
view  the  critical  point  of  the  whole  undertaking.  Method  and 
material  must  coincide.  To  win  this  end  will  require  the  dis- 
cipline of  many  men  and  the  toil  of  many  years. 

In  prosecuting  now  this  method  within  these  Gospel  records 
each  several  scene  becomes  in  turn  a  guide.  The  light  of  each 
incident  illumines  the  whole,  while  also  the  history  as  a  whole 
illumines  each  scene.  Pursuing  the  study,  scene  by  scene,  one 
comes  to  see  that  certain  qualities  of  Christ  are  ever  present, 
integral.  They  form  the  standing  constituents  of  His  being. 
His  teaching,  His  deeds. 

One  of  these  elements  is  Truth.  This  stands  in  Christ  iden- 
tified. He  is  Truth.  Truth  and  He  are  one.  In  His  presence 
and  by  virtue  of  His  presence  among  men  Truth  stands  unveiled. 
As  He  witnesses  His  word,  one  comes  to  feel  that  His  message 
and  His  personal  integrity  are  one.  In  sum.  Truth,  as  it  shows 
in  Christ,  can  be  defined  as  personal  Self-respect. 

Another  of  these  elements  is  Love.  This  too  stands  ideally 
identified  in  Christ.  He  is  Love.  Love  and  He  are  one.  In 
His  presence,  and  by  virtue  of  His  presence  among  men.  Love 
stands  unveiled.  He  is  continually  offering  all  Himself,  con- 
tinually illustrating  the  full  worth  of  fellowship.  Whether  in 
peace  or  in  suffering  the  partnership  is  on  His  part  complete. 
So  that  Love,  as  it  shows  in  Christ,  is  defined  as  personal  Self- 
devotion. 

Another  of  these  elements  is  Purity.  Like  Love  and  Truth, 
if  Purity  is  existent  anywhere,  it  is  identified  in  Christ.  From 
all  that  soils  and  all  that  decays  He  holds  free.  His  character 
is  attempered  to  things  deathless,  spiritual.  In  Him  is  life. 
He  is  essentially  eternal. 

Another  of  these  elements  is  Dignity.  In  Christ  personal 
grandeur  stands  identified.  If  majesty  is  historically  embodied 
anywhere,  it  is  in  Him.  By  virtue  of  His  presence  among  men 
reverence  and  humility  became  instinctive.  For  in  His  person 
pure  lordship  is  seen  to  reside. 

Here  are  four  notable  qualities  in  the  being  of  Christ.  Each 
one  is  integral,  pervading  the  whole  life.     Each  is  elemental, 


THE   BIBLICAL   SYNTHETIC   DISCIPLINES     249 

by  no  means  an  accident.  They  are  severally  simple,  impossible 
to  dissolve.  In  their  pure,  full  unison  rises  a  clear  vision  of  a 
perfect  Person. 

This  is  the  Person  of  Christ,  the  living  fusion  in  a  personal  life 
of  Dignity,  Purity,  Self-devotion,  and  Self-respect.  Here  is  for 
a  student  of  Ethics  a  priceless  synthesis,  essentially  vital,  essen- 
tially free,  essentially  one,  essentially  complete.  This  is  per- 
sonality. It  is  elementally  manifold,  not  a  monad.  It  is 
elementally  integral,  not  a  fragment.  It  is  elementally  creative, 
not  mechanical.  It  has  its  law  of  being  within  itself.  It  can 
generate  and  multiply.  It  is  a  fountain-head  of  life.  Here  can 
center  and  hence  can  evolve  all  that  the  science  of  Biblical 
Ethics  can  contain. 

To  trace  from  root  to  fruit  all  the  moral  motives  and  designs, 
through  all  the  moral  ways  and  means,  unto  all  the  moral  con- 
sequences and  ends  inwrought  in  the  thought  and  life  of  Christ, 
as  in  His  person  and  work  He  brings  to  a  finish  the  moral  ideal 
germinant  and  ripening  in  the  Messianic  plan,  is  to  reveal  in 
real  history  the  finished  theory  of  the  ethical  life.  The  living 
Christ  is  a  living  proof  that  this  may  be.  And  more,  Christ 
consorts  with  sinners.  He  bears  our  sins,  not  tarnishing  therein 
His  own  moral  spotlessness.  To  show  the  burden  and  the 
bearings  of  this  unparalleled  fellowship,  to  explain  closely  how 
His  supreme  ideals  may  without  compromise  take  root  in  us 
and  unfold  from  within  our  life  in  a  living  unison,  is  a  task 
full  of  toil  indeed,  but  also  full  of  hope.  It  will  expound  in 
ordered  form  what  stands  embodied  in  living  verity  in  the  life 
of  Christ.  It  will  formulate  for  our  ultimate  moral  anomaly  an 
ultimate  moral  law.     Towards  that  end  this  science  strives. 

Closely  parallel  with  Biblical  Ethics  will  emerge  out  of  the 
method  which  this  essay  defines  another  Biblical  discipline  — 
a  discipline  that  will  aim  to  lay  open  the  order  and  vigor,  the 
clarity  and  coherence  of  Christ's  reasoned  thought.  By  tra- 
cing again  the  outline  and  being  of  those  qualities  in  the  per- 
sonal life  of  Christ  that  have  been  already  described,  in  order 
to  find  how  they  are  interlocked  in  the  syllogisms  of  His  daily 
speech,  to  identify  His  axioms,  to  pursue  His  reasonings,  to 
feel  and  measure  the  momentum  fast  bound  within  His  conclu- 
sions, as  in  Messianic  argument  He  conducts  and  consummates 
His  Messianic  life,  the  mind  that  will  bow  to  its  rigorous  and 


250  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

invigorating  discipline  will  win  the  mighty  science  of  Biblical 
Logic  —  a  science,  that,  as  handled  by  Christ,  is  never  for  an 
instant  mere  mental  dialectics,  but  always  an  art  engaged  upon 
duty  and  sin,  upon  conscience  and  will. 

When  Biblical  Ethics  and  Biblical  Logic  stand  complete, 
they  will  be  found  jointly  to  contain  the  principles  for  a  phi- 
losophy of  the  religious  life.  They  will  reveal  that  these  Gospel 
scenes,  where  intelligence  and  conscience  and  will  are  so  vivid 
and  real,  contain  all  the  coefficients  for  a  rationale  of  the  reality 
and  reconciliation  of  right  and  wrong.  The  orderly  reflection 
of  this  religious  life  will  form  the  task  of  Biblical  Dogmatics. 

These  studies  will  also  lay  bare  and  reveal  in  action  the  uni- 
versal and  elemental  forces  of  soul-life  in  God  and  man  and  so 
yield  the  science  of  Biblical  Psychology  —  a  science  that  in  the 
Biblical  field  never  leaves  the  realm  of  Ethics. 

In  like  manner  these  radical  syntheses  of  the  Messianic  life 
will  so  portray  the  person  and  character,  the  speech  and  design 
of  Christ,  and  will  thereby  fashion  such  an  ideal  of  symmetry 
and  harmony  and  beauty  in  a  personal  life,  as  to  produce  in 
Biblical  Esthetics  a  discipline  that  may  well  claim  dominion 
over  every  form  of  art  designed  by  the  mind  of  man. 

By  this  same  method  upon  these  same  Gospel  scenes  two 
other  disciplines  will  also  be  given  birth  —  Biblical  Pedagogics 
and  Biblical  Homiletics.  Towards  these  two  sciences  all  the 
sciences  mentioned  before  inevitably  tend.  In  each  and  either 
of  these  two  all  the  others  will  vitally  blend.  For  an  aspirant 
in  the  field  of  Pedagogy,  whether  its  science  or  its  art,  the 
Christian  Gospels  offer  cosmic  wealth  of  example  and  thought. 
As  illustration  may  be  seen  two  volumes  by  the  writer  of  this 
essay,  Teacher  Training  by  the  Master  Teacher,  and  Jesus  the 
King  of  Truth.  The  whole  volume  of  Messianic  Writ  awaits 
the  studied  exposition  of  this  most  engaging  Messianic  art. 
Biblical  Homiletics  forms  the  acme  of  Biblical  work.  The 
Messianic  scenes  are  the  divinely  furnished  birthplace  of  Mes- 
sianic heralds. 

In  concluding  the  statements  of  this  paper  it  surely  does  not 
need  to  be  said  that  it  is  not  written  as  an  outline  of  things  al- 
ready achieved.  It  is  rather  conceived  as  a  careful  definition 
of  work  waiting  to  be  done. 


THEOLOGICAL   ENCYCLOPEDIA 

Rf.v.  Chester  David  Hartranft,  D.D. 
Honorary  President,  Hartford  Seminary,  Wolfenbuttel,  Germany 

Has  the  organism  of  the  sciences  which  inhere  in  Theology 
been  formulated  into  a  clearer  and  more  comprehensive  system 
from  1834  until  the  present  day?  To  answer  this  question  is 
the  object  now  in  view.  The  limits  of  length  imposed  upon  this 
article  take  discussion  of  details  involved  in  the  ups  and  downs 
of  our  science  within  the  last  seventy-five  years  out  of  the  range 
of  constructive  skill.  The  mere  enumeration  of  books  that  have 
been  written  on  this  subject  would  alone  cover  pretty  nearly 
the  farthest  space  allotted.  Nor  will  it  be  practicable  to  argue 
any  point  or  substantiate  any  assertion,  much  less  to  analyze 
even  the  foremost  authors ;  one  can  only  affirm  without  defense, 
and  state  his  beliefs  without  explanation. 

The  second  edition  of  Schleiermacher's  Kurze  Darstellung  des 
thcologischen  Studiums  was  issued  in  1830,  and  initiated  a  novel 
and  influential,  but  erroneous  treatment  of  the  organism  of 
Theological  Encyclopaedia.  A  year  later  Rosenkranz  gave  his 
Hegelian  and  combative  scheme  to  the  world.  In  the  edition 
of  1845  he  amplified  his  tripod  and  pitched  his  tone  still  higher. 
Danz's  masterly  work  appeared  in  1832.  In  1833  Hagen- 
bach's  treatise  first  saw  the  light;  in  our  period  it  has  gone 
through  twelve  editions.  In  1834  Gengler  and  Staudenmaier, 
although  Romanists,  colored  their  systems  with  speculative 
thought.  The  highly  developed  book  of  Clarisse  was  printed 
next  year.  Two  years  later  the  significant  system  proposed  by 
Harless  was  published.  In  the  forties  Pelt,  Noack,  Kienlen,  and 
Laforet  were  the  most  suggestive.  Passing  by  the  dissertations 
of  the  next  two  decades,  we  come,  in  the  seventies,  to  the  lectures 
of  J.  P.  Lange,  Wirthmiiller,  Vaucher,  Hannah,  Doedes,  and 
Hoffmann.  In  the  eighties  Rothe,  Doedes  II,  Hugenholtz, 
Martin,  Drummond,  Eklund,  Gretillat  in  full  form,  Nathusius, 
Rabiger,  Zockler  are  the  leaders.     In  the  nineties  Kraus,  Kihn, 


252  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

Kuyper,  Vaucher  again,  Kahler,  Bernoulli,  Cave,  Schaff,  Hein- 
rici,  both  in  the  Grundriss  and  in  the  article  of  Herzog  III^ 
close  the  series.  The  most  original,  brilliant,  and  exhaustive 
author  during  this  entire  interval  is  Kuyper,  in  spite  of  his 
strict  confessionalism.  Of  course  there  are  many  minor  writers, 
and  some  translators,  whose  names  cannot  even  be  mentioned. 
The  various  tendencies,  confessional,  romantic,  speculative, 
mediational,  secularizing,  can  only  be  characterized  by  these 
terms,  nor  is  there  room  to  criticise  or  classify  individual  sur- 
rogates of  these  clashing  drifts.  It  must,  however,  be  stated 
summarily  that  in  these  seventy-five  years  there  has  been  no 
real  forward  movement  in  straight  lines  or  even  in  parabolas; 
the  course  lies  wholly  in  elliptical  orbits.  Voluminous,  indeed, ' 
are  the  treatises,  many  the  devices  to  give  color  and  depth  to 
the  science,  and  startling  are  the  discords  in  classification ;  but 
the  starting-point  remains  everywhere  the  cloudy  and  fallible. 
How  then  is  growth  or  rational  development  to  be  expected? 
Hence  this  is  the  point  from  which  we  are  constrained  to  elabo- 
rate our  topic.  As  long  as  the  organism  of  all  science  lacks  the 
only  suitable  substratum  for  logical  and  coherent  architectonic, 
so  long  will  the  special  sciences  remain  isolated  and  without  a 
legitimate  classification.  Manifold  and  complex  are  the  aggre- 
gations, but  these  do  not  constitute  either  a  cohesive  or  an  elastic 
scheme.  If  there  be  no  logically  concatenated  General  Ency- 
clopaedia, there  is  not  likely  to  be  any  well-ordered  method  in 
so-called  Theological  Encyclopaedia. 

A.    General  Encyclopaedia 

I.  The  reaction  from  the  passionate  system-building,  which 
characterized  the  philosophers  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  and 
the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  centuries,  has  frightened  their 
epigones  into  a  degree  of  shyness  about  grouping  and  unifying 
the  universal  body  of  knowledge.  Very  naturally  the  subjective, 
a-prioristic  excesses  of  Kant,  Hegel,  Fichte,  Schelling,  and  their 
lesser  confreres  have  deterred  their  successors  from  indulging 
in  a  kindred  boldness. 

A  spectral  gloom  broods  over  those  mighty  ruins  which  lie 
scattered  over  the  mountainous  highways  along  which  those 
elder  aspirants  erected  their  massive  seats.     Their  cyclopean 


THEOLOGICAL   ENCYCLOPiEDIA  253 

structures  were  overturned  with  such  earthquake  rapidity,  that 
a  nightmare  has  ridden  the  stomachs  of  their  commentators. 
Since  that  philosophic  catastrophe,  even  the  Idealists  have  not 
had  the  heart  again  to  base  the  universe  on  a  pivot;  the  most 
daring  speculator  among  them  is  convinced  that  you  cannot 
rear  an  enlarged  superstructure,  outtopping  heaven,  upon  a 
mental  point.  There  is,  indeed,  a  present  frenzy  about  Weltan- 
schauung; it  has  reached  a  very  feverish  temperature.  Many 
poets,  novelists,  essayists,  naturalists,  psychologists,  physicists, 
philosophers,  excel  Job  in  his  estranged  mood,  or  Koheleth  in 
his  report  of  flippant  investigations  into  the  meaning  of  life. 
The  Fatherhood  of  God  is  a  truth  that  makes  their  mouths 
acrid.  What  of  oneness  or  wholesomeness  can  you  expect 
from  such  a  Manichean  terminus  a  quo  ?  The  very  quantity 
and  contradiction  of  these  morbid  interpretations  of  life,  and 
the  universe,  forbid  any  symmetrical  architecture.  The  exegetes 
of  being  jostle  one  another  in  their  ambition  to  lay  the  chief 
corner  stone;  their  impatient  air  of  certitude  does  not  scare  us 
from  saying  that  their  whole  art  of  unification  and  systemization 
is  in  a  state  of  irreparable  disorder.  Nor  are  the  efforts  of 
Neo-Aristotelians,  Neo-Kantians,  Neo-Fichteans,  Neo-Aqui- 
nasians,  any  more  deserving  of  laurel  crowns.  In  the  face  of 
empirical  science,  they  cannot  get  momentum  enough  into 
their  aeroplanes  to  mount  to  that  empyrean  where  their  fathers 
sailed  with  levity,  and,  we  may  add,  burst  asunder  in  the  midst. 
They  still  linger  warily  in  the  lap  of  their  mother  and  are  slowly 
but  wisely  getting  courage  to  compress  the  material  sciences 
within  their  just  limits.  The  theologians  themselves  either 
move  in  their  confessional  circus  rings  or  they  make  a  desperate 
break  for  freedom  in  the  lines  of  Comparative  Religion,  History, 
Psychology,  Sociology,  and  Kantianism.  In  large  measure, 
then,  the  central  force  of  unity  and  system  remains  neglected. 
Even  the  logicians  have  abstained  from  any  universal  classifica- 
tion; they  are  content  to  fight  for  the  priority  of  Logic  over 
material  Science,  and  next  over  Psychology,  and  finally  over 
History.  Some  of  these  are  just  now  in  hottest  encounter.  The 
odium  tlieologicum  is  a  rush-light  compared  with  the  blazing 
temper  of  these  combatants. 

II.    The  educational  institutions  with  their  traditional  depart- 
ments act  as  powerful  restraining  forces  and  almost  compel 


254  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

an  encyclopaedia  to  be  formed  in  and  according  to  their  immobile 
molds,  and  to  preserve  intact  the  boundaries  of  long  usage  in 
the  face  of  all  common  sense.  True,  the  university  system  is 
presumed  to  be  a  practical  organism  of  all  the  sciences,  and  yet, 
in  effect,  it  remains  but  a  corporation  of  students  and  professors 
under  whose  guidance  the  branches  of  knowledge  lead  a  happy- 
go-lucky  existence.  Is  that  an  organic  system  which  maintains 
Faculties  of  Medicine,  of  Law,  of  Theology,  or  is  it  an  agglomera- 
tion which  has  not  even  the  merit  of  being  well  glued  together  ? 
Does  it  in  itself  create  a  vital  bond  between  them,  simply  to 
be  members  of  the  same  association?  Are  not  these  the  old 
bread-and-butter  professions,  whose  only  point  of  contact  is 
that  they  have  sprung  out  of  human  needs  and  are  servants  of 
one  curatorial  body  or  of  the  State?  But  if  you  enforce  such 
divisions,  so  illogical  and  irrational,  as  far  as  their  essential  na- 
ture is  concerned,  can  you  expect  any  improvement  in  General 
Encyclopaedia?  This  error  became  more  glaring  and  inex- 
cusable when  the  so-called  Faculty  of  Philosophy  was  gradually 
added,  a  compound  of  philologians,  historians,  mathematicians, 
naturalists,  physicists,  economists,  philosophers,  and  what  not. 
True,  a  few  universities  have  attempted  some  feeble  subdivisions 
in  this  medley.  But  what  sort  of  Acropolis  can  one  rear  out  of 
blocks,  some  cubical,  some  spheroidal,  some  conical,  some 
cylindrical,  some  in  the  shape  of  a  parallelopipedon,  others  in 
that  of  a  tetrahedron?  Again,  the  very  title  of  Ph.D.  is  as 
meaningless  as  the  Faculty  which  bestows  it;  you  cannot  tell 
whether  its  proud  wearer  is  a  student  of  Philology,  of  Astronomy, 
of  Chemistry,  of  History,  or  of  the  Socratic  method.  The  pity 
of  it  all  is  that  our  own  institutions  have  imitated  these  historic 
crudities:  some  pattern  after  the  unformed  collegiate  English 
inheritance;  others,  after  the  unrelated  French  entanglement; 
others,  again,  after  the  German  hodge-podge.  Further,  a  comi- 
cal difficulty  lies  in  the  introduction  of  social  absurdities  into 
the  realm  of  science.  What  have  the  differentiations  of  dignity 
to  do  with  the  pursuit  of  truth?  Can  you  clog  the  forward 
strides  of  wisdom  more  disastrously  than  by  clothing  this,  or 
their  mental  pursuit,  in  royal  apparel,  and  condemning  others 
to  wear  homespun  ?  Every  grade  of  human  industry  is  as  much 
an  exalted  profession  as  are  those  which  are  not  invested  with 
academic  honors.     Yet  many  a  theoretical  branch  is  not  incor- 


THEOLOGICAL    ENCYCLOPEDIA  255 

porated  into  the  university  system.  Almost  all  technical,  com- 
mercial, mechanical,  artistic  claimants  are  ostracized  and 
clustered  in  separate  schools,  that  they  may  be  made  conscious 
of  their  lack  of  a  court  suit.  So  long  as  the  equality  of  all  human 
knowledge  is  not  recognized,  there  can  be  no  genuine  Ency- 
clopaedia. But  probably  the  most  enigmatic  position  held  by 
any  of  the  faculties  is  that  of  Theology  itself.  Time  was  when 
it  went  about  in  royal  robes,  with  powdered  peruke  and  the 
scepter  of  empire.  Every  study  had  to  do  it  servile  reverence. 
Each  science  in  turn  had  to  ask  of  it  permission  to  live.  Now, 
none  are  poor  enough  to  make  it  a  bow;  even  the  latest  new- 
comer in  the  Faculty  of  Philosophy  shakes  its  fist  superciliously 
at  the  degraded  ruler,  as  an  intolerable,  hypocritical  intruder 
into  the  sacred  precincts  of  Wisdom.  It  is  regarded  as  an  an- 
tique, bloated  tyrant  out  of  employment,  so  deep  is  its  fall. 
Its  professors  and  students  require  extra  starch  of  assurance 
to  dare  breathe  in  the  presence  of  Law,  Medicine,  and  Political 
Economy,  to  say  nothing  of  its  subjection  to  the  shrewish  satire, 
sniffing  air,  and  jeweled  finger  of  the  undergraduate.  It  is, 
indeed,  a  humiliating  reversal;  Dives  has  turned  beggar  at  his 
own  gate,  and  he  finds  the  new  despot  as  imperious,  unjust,  and 
intolerant  as  himself  in  his  own  halcyon  days.  Contrast  the 
present  squalor,  with  the  ancient  splendor :  in  a  great  university, 
Law  has  a  teaching  staff  of  over  thirty;  Medicine,  over  one 
hundred  and  fifty,  the  heterogeneous  philosophical  corps 
musters  over  two  hundred ;  while  Theology  lags  behind  with  a 
scant  twenty.  This  is  a  proof  of  how  unworthy  of  differentiation 
the  science  of  Theology  is  deemed.  It  is  true  that  in  a  State 
with  an  established  Church,  the  confessional  question  makes 
a  great  pother.  Some  forty  years  ago,  Holland  began  a  decapi- 
tation of  the  Theological  Faculty  as  such,  and  retired  its  surviv- 
ing subjects  to  the  other  departments.  In  Germany,  not  only 
do  some  orthodox  clergy  seek  for  the  segregation  of  Theol- 
ogy in  separate  schools,  but  the  Materialists  of  all  shades 
with  not  a  few  Antinomists  and  Secularists  insist  on  the  entire 
abolition  of  the  Faculty  as  such.  In  a  recent  congress  of 
university  professors  at  Jena,  the  proposition  in  favor  of  such 
an  annulment  was  not  only  formally  discussed,  but  the  state- 
ment that,  were  the  universities  to  be  founded  to-day,  surely 
no  one  would  incorporate  a  theological  faculty  within  them, 


256  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

was  hailed  with  approbation.  Was  there  ever  such  another 
revolt  of  the  ancillaries  against  their  once  transcendent  queen? 
With  us,  a  State  university  cannot  constitutionally  embrace 
Theology  in  its  curriculum.  The  older  privately  endowed  in- 
stitutions tolerate  it  with  shoulders  shrugged ;  while  the  newer 
ones,  as  a  rule,  ignore  it ;  a  few  only  have  the  courage  to  invite 
all  confessions  to  appoint  their  representatives  as  parts  of  the 
system.  But  if  Theology  be  a  science  in  any  sense  whatever, 
who  dare  close  the  doors  of  a  university  against  its  admission, 
since  such  an  institution  professes  to  be  a  teacher  of  all  the 
sciences  ?  And  seeing  that  Theology  has  many  branches,  who 
can  lawfully  deny  it  an  equally  differentiated  Faculty?  We 
must  not  argue  the  case,  but  must  limit  ourselves  to  the  asser- 
tion, that  progress  in  General  Encyclopaedia  is  hampered  just 
as  much  by  the  antitheological  scholastics  and  the  heady  mo- 
nistic abstractionists  as  by  a  solidified  tradition.  Certainly, 
the  dogmatism  of  the  material  sciences  on  the  one  hand,  and 
that  of  the  spiritual  sciences  on  the  other,  is  no  more  justifiable 
than  was  the  misrule  of  ecclesiasticism.  The  current  efforts 
at  breaking  through  the  aged  and  outworn  ramparts  begin  at 
the  wrong  end.  A  substitution  of  other  evils  is  no  cure.  One 
likes  the  blare  of  a  trumpet  that  signals  liberty  to  teach,  and  then 
sounds  the  order  to  put  Theology  in  shackles,  or  to  banish  it 
into  the  Wilderness  of  Shur.  After  all,  who  built  the  univer- 
sities? It  was  hoped  that  the  American  university  would  be 
the  exhibit  of  a  universal,  comprehensive,  logical,  coordinated 
Encyclopaedia,  but  it  has  degenerated  into  a  mechanism  aping 
foreign  traditions,  displaying  the  same  misconceptions  of  system 
and  method.  No  presiding  officer  should  ever  be  chosen  for 
the  headship  of  any  new  foundation  who  is  ignorant  of  General 
Encyclopaedia.  How  many  rectors  in  purple  robes  are  ac- 
quainted with  the  first  principles  of  classification?  How  many 
presidents  of  existing  universities  could  pass  an  examination 
in  the  organism  of  knowledge? 

III.  Since  the  downfall  of  the  Napoleons  of  philosophy, 
what  shall  we  say  of  the  current  attempts  at  finding  the  uni- 
fying center  of  the  sciences?  The  ambition  to  discover  such  a 
head  for  all  the  colossal  aggregations  of  research  and  develop- 
ment has  not  wholly  died  out,  although  the  Olympians  made 
such  grotesque  architectonics.     Some  philosophers  still   insist 


THEOLOGICAL   ENCYCLOPEDIA  257 

that  Philosophy  is  the  parent  of  all  the  children  of  Wisdom, 
even  after  its  speculative  territory  has  been  so  painfully  and 
narrowly  circumscribed  by  the  grim  disciples  of  induction,  an 
induction,  it  must  be  confessed,  frequently  sudden  and  spurious. 
The  epistemologist,  probably,  has  latterly  been  the  most  assertive 
of  the  philosophic  groups.  The  psychologist  is  girding  himself 
to  capture  all  the  area  which  the  philosopher  sturdily  claims 
for  himself,  and  the  dispute  for  supremacy  is  lively  between 
them,  and,  we  may  say,  edifying,  for  we  all  love  to  see  a  pretty 
fight.  The  sociologist  has  been  emboldened  to  think  that  he 
has  driven  in  the  farthest  stake  towards  the  center  of  things. 
The  monist  of  every  camp  has  an  idea  that  his  molecules,  or  his 
force,  or  his  energy,  conscious  or  unconscious,  would  make 
altogether  the  best  beginning.  The  logician,  since  his  formal 
syllogistic  cloak  has  been  torn  from  him  by  his  categorical  and 
essential  rivals,  has  been  content  to  see  all  classification  reduced 
to  the  ranks.  The  new  school  will  go  so  far  as  to  substitute 
for  the  material  and  spiritual  sciences  the  natural  and  the  cultural 
groups,  in  itself  a  step  downwards.  The  anthropologist  too 
would  exploit  man  as  the  measure  of  all  things,  and  put  his 
science  as  the  universal  and  all-embracing  one,  while  his  com- 
petitors are  trying  to  force  him  into  the  attic,  as  so  much  cast- 
off  clothing  for  the  rummage-sale.  The  historian  is  also  fetching 
a  big  circumference  in  order  that  he  may  make  the  development 
of  life  and  its  environment  the  inclusive  topic,  while  he  forgets, 
in  his  zeal,  that  the  object  of  his  survey  must  be  greater  than  the 
mere  tracing  of  its  evolution.  A  more  potent  and  active  claim- 
ant is  the  seeker  who  desires  to  substitute  his  view  of  the  mys- 
terious universe  as  the  well  from  which  issues  the  entire  economy 
of  thought  and  deed.  Verily  he  is  the  most  irruptive  of  all  the 
contestants,  and  the  press  booms  with  his  explosive  assaults 
on  the  traditions.  These  many  antipodal  challengers  of  unity 
do  start  up  much  yellow  dust,  but  give  us  no  gold.  The  initial 
synthesis,  the  formative  personality,  the  resulting  concretion,  seem 
undiscoverable  among  these  vague  hallooings  in  the  mist. 

IV.  Another  chain  for  the  feet  of  our  muse  is  the  determined 
persistence  of  the  ancient,  but  also  Kantian,  folly  which  divorces 
faith  from  knowledge.  Its  favorite  method  is  to  distinguish 
between  the  pure  and  the  positive  reason,  as  if  reason  could  be 
both  pure  and  not  so  pure  because  of  certain  statutory  elements 


258  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

alleged  to  exist  in  it.  Through  this  wonderful  discrimination 
the  pure  reason  is  made  incompetent  to  demonstrate  the  existence 
of  God.  This  lost  ground  the  positive  reason  is  presumed  to 
recover.  Moreover  a  lot  of  antinomies  are  paraded  that  vanish 
for  the  most  part  if  you  remove  the  cause  of  the  difficulty, 
namely,  the  false  division  of  personality  into  independent, 
incommunicable  fractions  which  no  psychology  can  warrant. 
By  this  hocus-pocus,  faith  is  banished  from  the  intellectual 
arena  and  is  confined  to  the  area  of  Ethics,  and  this  Ethics  is 
in  turn  made  the  foundation  of  Religion.  All  of  which  are 
monstrous  treasons  to  personality  as  well  as  to  experience. 
Through  this  uncritical  criticism  vast  chasms  have  been  opened 
up  between  the  different  branches  of  knowledge  as  well  as 
between  those  elements  of  the  human  constitution  by  which 
the  sciences  should  be  attained.  Unless  these  fallacies  be  sur- 
rendered, it  will  be  out  of  human  endeavor  to  throw  up  a  bridge 
that  shall  reach  the  borders  of  the  ultimate  truth.  If  there  be 
no  unity  in  our  nature,  we  are  not  going  to  sight  much  of  oneness 
in  the  frame  of  things.  He  who  discriminates  between  values 
is  either  instituting  a  court  that  is  selfish  or  is  begging  the  ques- 
tion as  to  the  moral  worth  of  the  universal  order  as  a  whole. 
The  largest  fraction  by  far  of  the  unhappy  internecine  strife 
among  thinkers  and  educators  lies  in  just  these  distracting 
absurdities. 

V.  Another  evil  which  cries  for  eradication  before  any  sane 
advance  can  be  made  in  our  science  is  the  wrangle  between 
Materialism  and  Spirituality.  The  Materialist  would  reduce 
spirit  to  a  florescence  of  matter;  a  distinct  school  of  Idealism 
would  deny  the  separate  external  existence  of  the  world  of 
phenomena,  and  would  express  the  material  in  terms  of  nou- 
mena,  notably  as  to  problems  of  space  and  time ;  the  Physicist 
would  solve  the  question  of  ether,  light,  space,  the  internal  rela- 
tions of  astronomical  bodies  by  symbols  of  mathematics.  A 
multitude  of  investigators  insist  that  a  hypothesis,  although 
it  have  no  absolute  inductive  demonstration,  is  yet  an  eternal 
verity.  All  these  mental  and  moral  attitudes  make  any  harmony 
of  things  as  they  are  literally  impossible;  and  the  evil  persists, 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  back  and  through  matter  and  spirit 
move  those  ethical  waves  which  are  the  evidence  of  a  controlling 
and   infinite  personality.     Spiritual  Philosophy  has  waged   a 


THEOLOGICAL   ENCYCLOPEDIA  259 

protracted  war  with  the  despotic  and  dogmatic  Materialism 
that  has  so  long  usurped  the  crown,  and  has  been  pressing  back 
yonder  aggressive  banners  into  narrower  and  juster  limits; 
but  the  end  is  not  yet.  While  each  camp  may  construct  its  own 
Encyclopgedia,  no  institution  which  embraces  all  shades  of  in- 
ductive and  speculative  opinion,  and  at  the  same  time  insists 
on  the  absolute  freedom  of  each  teacher  to  formulate  his  own 
quiddities  according  to  his  own  goodwill,  can  illustrate  the 
general  organism  of  the  sciences  and  be  thoroughly  true  to 
structural  principles. 

VI.  In  some  Encyclopgedias  there  is  a  confusion  between 
the  thinker,  the  object  of  his  thought,  and  the  process  of  his 
thinking.  In  the  majority  of  cases,  the  two  latter  conditions 
are  indifferently  blended.  Further,  the  uniformity  of  the  pro- 
cesses themselves  as  applied  to  the  study  of  all  realms  of  research, 
material  and  spiritual,  or  natural  and  cultural,  seems  never  to 
be  recognized,  nor  has  it  ever  been  carefully  wrought  out, 
theoretically  or  practically.  The  human  mind  in  its  effort  to 
grasp  facts  and  reduce  them  to  system  goes  through  precisely 
the  same  more  or  less  definite  and  ascending  stages,  but  no- 
where is  this  fact  made  the  groundwork  of  systematized  science. 
The  confusion  has  become  so  fixed  that  it  seems  like  trying  to 
root  out  a  spell-bound  forest  without  the  dissolving  charm; 
and  yet  as  long  as  this  perversity  obtains,  so  long  can  there  be 
no  General  Encyclopaedia  worthy  of  the  name. 

VII.  There  can  be  no  unity  which  does  not  confess  an  eternal 
personality  to  be  at  the  base,  a  supreme  intelligence,  with  heart 
and  will,  which  has  created  and  sustains  the  material  and  spir- 
itual whole.  All  science  must  be  confessed  to  be  the  study  of 
God,  in  Himself  and  in  His  manifestations.  This  is  not  a  preju- 
dice and  a  prepossession.  To  put  the  universe  out  of  its  re- 
lation to  the  First  Cause  and  the  Upholder,  is  the  devastating 
folly  of  those  unwise  men  who  yet  seek  to  formulate  His  laws. 
All  sciences  must  be  suffused  with  the  Spirit,  if  we  want  to  know 
anything  aright  ;  the  objects  of  study  must  not  be  put  out  of 
accord  with  the  divine  order.  Further,  the  discovery  of  things 
does  not  create  them;  the  explanation  of  things  does  not  call 
them  into  being.  All  have  been  there,  beyond  the  reckoning  of 
men,  in  beautiful  development  and  system,  a  concrete  whole, 
in   obedience  to  the  transcendent   intelligence,   with  purpose 


26o  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

written  upon  every  atom  and  film,  and  upon  the  concordant 
mass ;  therefore  Encyclopaedia  must  have  its  root  on  the  concrete 
and  not  in  the  detail,  in  the  synthesis,  and  not  the  analysis. 

B.   Theological  Encyclopedia 

If  now  we  turn  from  the  high  range  to  its  foothills,  the  same 
lack  of  unity  and  coherence  awaits  us.  Notably  does  what  is 
styled  Theological  Encyclopaedia  appear  stagnant  and  unim- 
provable; not  that  it  is  deficient  in  large  and  numerous  treatises; 
nor  does  it  lack  sparkling  and  aggressive  essays  on  minor  themes 
and  critical  inquiries  into  the  true  position  of  certain  branches  of 
the  science;  but  herein,  too,  the  absence  of  adequate  differentiation 
in  the  universities  acts  as  a  veto  upon  free  and  effective  inquiry. 
Hence  vast  fields  remain  as  a  wilderness.  It  is  true  also  that 
on  this  account  Theology  neglects  all  too  much  its  relationships 
to  other  sciences,  and  the  Church  as  a  consequence  wakes  up 
to  the  significance  of  its  mission  and  the  largeness  of  its  minis- 
trant  duty  long  after  the  field  has  been  occupied  by  other  agen- 
cies, very  often,  at  least  verbally,  antagonistic  to  religion.  But 
beyond  this  there  are  positive  barriers  to  advancement  because 
conspicuous  sophistries  are  sturdily  maintained. 

I.  The  very  definition  of  Theology  has  shrunken  into  a  little 
puddle.  They  call  it  now  the  Science  of  Religion  —  a  feeble 
gloss,  which  neither  etymology  nor  history  warrants.  The 
Science  of  Religion  —  yes,  indeed,  a  worthy  study  it  is,  and  of 
shining  conspicuity ;  and  so  is  the  Philosophy  of  Religion  a  high 
branch  enough ;  but  neither  of  them  is  Theology ;  they  are  but 
little  offshoots  of  the  great  tree,  and  tiny  rivulets  of  the  same 
full  river,  but  emphatically,  once  and  for  all,  they  are  not  The- 
ology in  its  genuine  import.  At  first,  when  men  used  this  term, 
they  meant  the  knowledge  of  God  and  His  works.  Unfortu- 
nately the  schools  struck  a  downward  grade  when  they  limited  the 
science  to  such  revelation  of  God  as  there  is  in  the  Bible,  and  so 
gave  impetus  to  the  steep  descent  toward  either  separating  God 
from  His  universe  or  swallowing  Him  up  therein.  The  word 
should  be  restored  to  its  primal  breadth  as  inclusive  of  every 
revelation  of  the  divine,  as  well  in  nature  as  in  grace.  All 
science  therefore  lies  within  its  compass,  since  the  concrete 
universe  is  but  a  manifestation  of  Himself.     There  is  no  law 


THEOLOGICAL    ENCYCLOPEDIA  261 

of  Chemistry,  of  Physics,  of  Zoology,  of  Psychology,  of  Logic, 
of  Esthetics,  but  is  a  law  of  God.  The  Christian  is  all  too 
pusillanimous  in  letting  his  charter-rights  go  by  the  board,  as, 
indeed,  any  rational  man  is,  who  forgets  that  he  is  but  the  crea- 
ture and  servant  of  God.  The  Christian  lets  one  prerogative 
of  the  cosmic  Christ  after  another  slip  from  under  his  vicariate, 
because  the  philosopher  waxes  presumptuous  against  the  trans- 
cendental, and  the  materialist  cries  ignoramus,  yet  leaps  over 
all  chasms  of  chance  with  his  hypothetic  links  and  bridges. 
Would  St.  Paul  or  St.  John  succumb  to  an  assumptive  Anthro- 
pology that  builds  the  universe  on  perishable  man,  or  on  dust 
and  bugs,  or  on  radium,  important  as  the  man,  the  dust,  the  bugs, 
and  the  radium  are  in  themselves,  and  yet  more  in  their  relations? 
II.  A  new  labyrinth  for  our  science  is  made  by  that  group  of 
theologians  who,  since  Overbeck's  day,  insist  that  Religion  is 
History.  By  this  time,  there  are  almost  twelve  tribes  of  diplo- 
matists and  documentarians,  who  are  elbowing  one  another  for 
the  ownership  of  this  promised  land,  in  which  the  orthodox  and 
the  evangelicals  have  been  dwelling  so  composedly.  It  is  a 
wonderful  discovery;  no  miracle  of  the  Old  or  New  Testament 
demands  so  much  sagacious  credulity  as  this  fallacy  has  exacted 
of  its  worshipers.  It  mistakes  the  development  of  a  thing 
for  the  thing  itself.  Jesus  Christ  is  neither  descriptive  nor  es- 
sential history,  although  He  appears  in  the  course  thereof,  and 
has  centralized  and  concatenated  all  events  in  Himself  as  the 
eternal  Word  ;  and  since  that  incarnate  Word  drooped  His  head 
on  Calvary,  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  is  not  faith  in  a  circumstance, 
but  in  a  person,  however  that  person  sprang  up  in  the  current 
of  events,  or  however  much  He  has  colored  and  broadened  the 
ever-flowing  stream  of  experience.  We  are  not  to  be  diverted 
by  the  ripples  and  eddies  nor  by  the  river  itself  from  the  throne 
out  of  which  the  waters  flow.  We  are  not  to  be  bewitched  by 
these  Merlins  into  mistaking  the  outflow  or  its  life-covered 
banks,  for  their  creative  Christ,  as  if  the  Jesus  of  the  Gospels, 
and  Epistles,  were  dust  from  the  fly-wheel  of  circumstance. 
He  is  no  such  thing !  He  is  the  Son  of  God,  and  appears  in 
history  teleologically  to  accomplish  a  foreordained,  specific, 
divine  purpose,  if  Christianity  be  true  at  all  and  its  records  have 
an  iota  of  verity  left  in  them.  Whatever  contributions  History 
may  have  yielded  Him,  they  do  not  either  obscure  or  modify 


262  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

His  conscious  and  unique  mission  to  save  the  world,  as  the  way, 
the  truth,  and  the  life.  No  medley  of  happenings  can  alienate 
us  from  that  central  personality  and  that  salvatory  weal.  That 
is  to  say,  the  essence,  the  kernel,  the  substance  of  Religion  is 
not  History,  whatever  stirring  incidents  may  cluster  about  its 
evolution.  Now,  while  in  any  readjusted  Theological  Ency- 
clopaedia there  will  be  much  in  its  treatment  of  history  to  cor- 
rect, that  correction  should  not  be  dictated  by  so  egregious 
a  sophistry  as  this.  The  so-called  religious  historians,  who 
at  the  same  time  happen  to  be  for  the  most  part  secularists, 
will  not  be  able  to  shift  the  heart  of  the  faith  to  their  quaking 
quagmire,  nor  make  Christianity  itself  a  happy  evolution  of 
successive  human  religions. 

III.  Probably  those  who  in  our  period  have  most  injured  a 
rational  development  of  Theological  Encyclopaedia  are  the 
followers  of  Schleiermacher.  The  school  which  makes  faith, 
and  with  it  religion,  a  function  of  the  feelings  exclusively  has 
crippled  the  science  beyond  expression.  It  is  astonishing  to 
see  how  gifted  men  have  adopted  this  as  a  principle  in  their 
effort  to  escape  from  the  brawling  threatenings  of  a  hypothetical 
Natural  Science  and  of  a  Philosophy  and  even  of  a  Psychology, 
for  each  contestant  claims  the  Infinite  as  its  exclusive  ground. 
It  is  an  eviscerating  cowardice  to  surrender  any  one  of  the  ele- 
ments of  faith  by  denying  that  its  rational  quality  is  its  primary 
factor.  Surely  we  ought  to  have  gotten  out  of  this  dismal  swamp 
as  we  got  out  of  the  purely  rationalistic  sloughs.  Must  it  be 
reaffirmed  that  faith  is  the  spiritual  exercise  of  the  entire  per- 
sonality of  the  individual  in  the  verifying  of  his  relationship  to 
God  and  to  men  and  to  every  possible  sphere?  There  ought  to 
be  an  end  to  the  theories  which  divide  the  spirit  of  man  into 
compartments,  acting  independently  of  one  another.  This 
whole  compartment  business  betrays  its  own  leakiness,  for  what 
Kant,  and  Schleiermacher,  and  their  congeners  have  formulated 
as  an  axiom  in  one  paragraph,  they  have  taken  back  in  another, 
and  yet  the  formula  lives  forever.  Backstairs  wit  is  good,  but 
it  should  be  honest.  Reason  cannot  be  excluded  from  faith  as  a 
primary  and  essential  factor  thereof  —  and  still  less  from  reli- 
gion. Even  the  unbeliever  seldom  reaches  his  unbelief  through 
his  feelings;  the  grounds  of  unbelief  are  not  for  the  most  part 
in  the  emotions,  certainly  not  exclusively.     Much  less  can  faith 


THEOLOGICAL   ENCYCLOPAEDIA  263 

be  the  sole  issue  of  the  will.  Voluntarism  is  another  of  these 
compartment  frauds  which  has  obtained  quite  a  vogue.  Let 
us  then  repeat,  that  faith  and  religion  involve  the  whole  person- 
ality, while  it  is  true  that  different  men  have  a  stronger  accent, 
now  upon  this,  now  upon  that,  element  of  their  spiritual  consti- 
tution. We  may  say  that  the  Rationalists,  the  Romanticists, 
the  Sentimentalists,  and  the  Voluntarists,  have  contributed 
more  than  any  other  class  to  the  dethronement  of  Theology 
and  the  impoverishment  of  religion.  They  have  built  the  stair- 
way by  which  the  Materialists,  the  Philosophers,  the  Philolo- 
gians,  the  Historians,  the  Psychologists  have  mounted  to  the 
dais  on  which  they  struggle  with  one  another  for  the  vacant 
throne.  Indeed,  they  have  made  of  their  spiritual  life  a  house 
doormat  on  which  the  Materialists  and  the  Modernists  may 
wipe  their  spurning  feet.  What  sort  of  Encyclopaedia  can  you 
expect  from  such  schools  of  a  sof tish  Christianity  ? 

IV.  The  lack  of  clearness  and  agreement  as  to  the  true 
function  of  Theological  Encyclopeedia  has  prevented  a  legitimate 
unfolding  of  its  contents.  The  most  serious  damage  in  this 
respect  has  been  inflicted  by  the  romantic  and  mediatory  ten- 
dency of  Schleiermacher.  In  his  desire  to  remove  religion  from 
direct  intellectual  activity,  he  gave  doctrine  and  thought  gen- 
erally a  secondary  place,  and  contracted  the  main  object  of 
Theological  Encyclopaedia  to  the  administration  of  the  Church, 
and  the  training  of  the  ministry  for  that  function.  His  theory 
of  truth,  as  dependent  upon  some  consensus  of  the  Church,  led 
not  only  to  an  exaggeration  of  the  importance  of  ecclesiasticism, 
but  to  the  subordination  of  the  supreme  elements  of  Christianity 
to  the  dictation  of  that  fellowship.  This  is  really  a  leaning  to- 
ward mediaevalism  and  Tridentine  theology ;  nor  is  it  any  wonder 
that  there  followed  a  steep  descent  to  Rome  on  the  part  of  some 
disciples  in  the  different  shadings  of  this  romantic  morass.  Not 
a  few  encyclopaedists  of  all  nationalities  have  fallen  into  this 
deep  pit.  Of  course  Romanism  locates  the  seat  of  authority 
in  the  Church,  but  while  their  encyclopaedists  form  their 
treatises  in  obedience  to  this  tenet,  they  do  not  destroy  its  scien- 
tific character  and  coherence  in  the  violent  manner  that  Schleier- 
macher does.  In  spite  of  a  distinction  between  extensive  and 
intensive  praxis,  this  theory  is  a  reduction  of  our  science  to  Prac- 
tical Theology,  and  in  some  respects  it  is  also  identical  with 


264  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

Methodology.  Somewhat  better  is  the  view  which  places  the 
center  of  the  organism  in  Christendom  or  Christianity ;  but  these, 
too,  miss  the  true  point  of  unity,  which  is  God  in  Christ.  To- 
wards Him  climbed  the  past,  and  from  Him  have  flowed  the 
various  streams  whose  facts  have  become  the  subjects  of  study 
and  have  constituted  the  various  branches  of  the  Science  of 
Grace.  Nor  will  it  do  simply  to  say  that  Encyclopasdia  groups 
the  sciences  connected  with  the  Bible  and  with  the  history  of 
the  Church;  these  are  mere  records  of  facts  and  not  the  things 
themselves.  An  organism  must  be  vital,  and  a  comprehensive 
organism  must  be  rooted  in  the  Supreme  Life. 

V.  As  a  consequence  of  the  ecclesiasticism  of  so  much  Ency- 
clopaedia, we  find  another  obstacle  to  its  development  in  the 
omission  of  any  mention  of  the  science  of  Individualism.  Yet 
the  Church  is  nothing  without  the  individual  believer.  The 
Kingdom  of  Heaven  finds  its  chief  service  in  the  winning  and 
training  of  the  individual.  Salvation  and  duty  alike  turn  their 
manifold  energies  to  the  building  up  of  the  single  soul.  Nor 
can  the  highest  extension  of  the  Church  or  the  Kingdom  forget 
that  the  mutual  growth  of  either  depends  upon  the  culture  of 
each  solitary  spirit,  and  that  continuously  by  itself,  as  well  as 
in  its  relative  functions.  Individualism  gives  the  intensive 
life,  the  vitality,  the  power,  to  the  combined  energies  resident  in 
the  body  of  Christ.  The  mission  of  the  Spirit  in  all  His  offices 
is  fundamentally  and  first  of  all  concerned  with  the  individual. 
But  there  is  not  one  Encyclopaedia  that  takes  note  of  this  fact, 
except  incidentally  and  as  a  fringe  of  theological  and  ethical 
doctrines  or  of  ministerial  functions.  Certainly  this  is  a  grave 
defect,  and  one  that  subtracts  from  the  value  of  the  best  treatises 
written  in  these  fruitful  decades. 

VI.  Minor  difficulties  which  have  arrested  the  forward  steps 
of  our  science  can  be  but  mentioned,  such  as :  the  elimination  of 
Metaphysics  and  the  transcendent  from  Theology;  the  warfare 
upon  dogma,  as  if  faith  should  not  formulate  its  thought;  the 
confusion  of  propaedeutics,  or  the  preparatory  outlines  for  the 
beginner,  with  the  full  treatment  of  the  subject,  not  for  the  ad- 
vanced pupil  only,  but  strictly  as  an  exposition  of  truth.  It  is 
a  fact  that  Hagenbach  pointed  out  the  need  of  such  a  division, 
and  placed  his  work  under  the  first  class ;  but  apart  from  Schaff 
few    have    observed    the    distinction.     Again,    some    contend 


THEOLOGICAL   ENCYCLOPEDIA  265 

against  the  inclusion  of  Practical  Theology,  forgetting  that  any 
technical  use  necessarily  develops  a  theoretical  side,  which  in 
its  turn  also  demands  scientific  statement.  The  same  folly 
has  led  to  the  isolation  of  the  technical  schools  of  all  kinds,  and 
in  some  cases  even  the  artistic  faculties  have  been  thus  sundered. 
Nor  must  we  forget  to  refer  to  the  contradiction  of  which  the 
encyclopaedists  are  guilty,  in  that  they  handle  the  Biblical 
sciences  in  an  entirely  different  way  from  their  unfolding  of  the 
ecclesiastical  studies,  as  though  identical  topics  were  radically 
different.  Other  impediments  lie  in  the  bulky  discussions  of 
Theology  and  Religion  which  really  belong  elsewhere;  in  the 
immense  lists  of  bibliography ;  in  adding  a  treatise  on  each  sub- 
ject and  thus  converting  Encyclopaedia  into  a  handbook  of  the 
theological  sciences.  Still  more  objectionable  is  the  combina- 
tion of  our  science  with  Systematic  Theology,  serving  as  an  intro- 
duction thereto. 

Such  it  seems  to  us  is  the  ring  around  which  these  shadowy, 
uncertain  ghosts  of  knowledge  pursue  one  another.  The 
dethronement  of  Theology  from  her  domain  as  queen  of  the 
sciences  and  the  fountain  of  all  the  streams  of  wisdom  is  the 
radical  defect  which  hinders  any  further  rightful  coordination; 
all  the  more,  since  each  minor  group,  and  often  a  single  branch 
of  knowledge,  makes  bold  dashes  for  the  ruling  seat.  What 
a  pity  that  the  hypothetical  material  sciences  have  gone  back 
to  the  elemental,  physical  theories  of  the  most  primitive  phi- 
losophers, and  have  ignored  the  nobler  inductive  inference  of 
Anaxagoras  with  his  confessed  need  of  an  autocratic  Nous, 
for  herein  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom.  And  so  the  alienation 
will  continue  until  learning  is  constrained  to  acknowledge  with 
adoration  that  God  in  Christ  is  All  in  All. 

"  O  grace,  unenvying  of  thy  boon !  that  gavest 
Boldness  to  fix  so  earnestly  my  ken 
On  the  everlasting  splendor,  that  I  looked. 
While  sight  was  unconsumed ;  and,  in  that  depth, 
Saw  in  one  volume  clasped  of  love,  whate'er 
The  universe  unfolds;  all  properties 
Of  substance  and  of  accident,  beheld. 
Compounded,  yet  one  individual  light 
The  whole.     And  of  such  bond  methinks  I  saw 
The  universal  form." 


CHRISTIAN   ETHICS 

President  William  Douglas  Mackenzie,  D.D.,  LL.D. 
Hartford  Theological  Seminary 

It  was  not  until  the  day  and  work  of  Schleiermacher  that  the 
traditional  division  of  Systematic  Theology  which  dealt  with 
Christian  conduct  became  separated  into  a  distinct  theological 
topic  under  the  title  "  Christian  Ethics."  Since  then  the  subject 
has  been  dealt  with  in  a  variety  of  forms  and  with  great  ex- 
haustiveness  by  German  theologians.  Their  work  has  been 
distinguished  by  one  important  feature.  They  have  taken  their 
title  seriously  and  have,  therefore,  most  consistently  sought  to 
show  the  dependence  of  Christian  conduct  upon  Christian  faith. 
The  first  part  of  their  discussions  is  almost  invariably  concerned 
with  the  principle  of  faith,  in  the  endeavor  to  unfold  its  inner 
meaning  so  that  its  relation  to  the  personal  conduct  and  the 
social  institutions  which  it  has  so  powerfully  molded  in  the 
history  of  Christendom  may  be  displayed.  One  has  only  to 
name  works  like  those  of  Rothe  (Theologische  Ethik),  of  Lu- 
thardt  (Eng.  trans.,  The  Moral  Truths  of  Christianity),  Marten- 
sen  (three  volumes  on  General  Ethics,  Individual  Ethics,  Social 
Ethics),  Dorner  (Christian  Ethics),  and  many  others,  to  realize 
the  genius  and  energy  which  have  been  given  to  the  discussion 
of  this  portion  of  the  theological  field.  The  Ritschlian  move- 
ment has  by  no  means  weakened  attention  to  this  subject. 
Although  Ritschl  himself  did  not  deal  with  it  formally,  his 
positivist  method  and  his  view  of  the  relation  of  Christ  to  His 
Church  have  proved  most  fruitful  for  the  study  of  Ethics.  Of 
this  we  may  judge  by  such  works  as  the  admirable  little  Grundriss 
of  Hermann  Schultz,  as  well  as  the  remarkable  Ethik  of  W. 
Herrmann,  the  latter  a  work  of  great  originality,  insight,  and 
fervor.  A  beginner  in  this  field  of  study  needs  only  to  read  the 
essay  of  the  last-named  writer,  which  has  been  translated  under 
the  title  Faith  and  Morals,  to  discover  the  rich  inner  relations 
of  Dogmatic  Theology  with  the  field  of  Ethics. 

266 


CHRISTIAN   ETHICS  267 

In  the  English-speaking  world,  apart  from  translations  of 
many  of  the  works  named  above,  we  have  until  recent  days  an 
almost  complete  dearth  of  books.  Dr.  Ralph  Wardlaw  of 
Glasgow  more  than  seventy  years  ago  (1838),  published  a  little 
volume  entitled  Christian  Ethics,  which  one  might  have  expected 
to  be  a  harbinger  of  great  interest  in  the  subject.  But  so  far 
as  the  present  writer  is  aware,  no  systematic  work  on  this  topic 
appeared  until  Dr.  Newman  Smyth  wrote  his  portly  and  useful 
volume,  Christian  Ethics,  for  the  International  Theological 
Library  (1892).  A  number  of  small  class  books  have  appeared, 
but  none  of  any  importance  until  Professor  Clarke  Murray 
published  last  year  his  Handbook  of  Christian  Ethics. 

On  the  other  hand,  we  have  received  from  time  to  time  valu- 
able discussions  of  certain  portions  of  the  field  of  Christian 
Ethics.     One  of  the  first  of  these,  and  still  among  the  most  re- 
markable, is  the  second  part  of  Ecce  Homo.     The  Anglican 
Church  has  produced  many  more  orthodox  treatises  upon  this 
subject,  but  none  displaying  greater  insight  or  a  truer  feeling 
for  the  immediate  connection  of  Christian  practice  with  the 
Christian   attitude  towards   the   personality  of   Jesus   Christ. 
F.  D.  Maurice  set  forth  in  a  somewhat  apologetic  vein  the  in- 
fluence of  Christianity  upon  social  institutions  in  his  work  en- 
titled Social  Morality.     Dr.  T.  B.  Strong  in  his  book  entitled 
Christian  Ethics  has  discussed  with  great  learning  and  power 
the  deep  meaning  of  the  fundamental  Christian  virtues,  and 
has  traced  with  a  master  hand  a  comparison  of  these  with  the 
discussions  in  Greek  philosophy.     Dr.  J.  R.  Illingworth   has 
produced  in  his  beautiful,  and  even  fascinating  volume,  entitled 
Christian  Character,  the  nearest  approach  of  which  the  Anglican 
mind  has  yet  been  capable  to  a  systematic  conception  of  this 
portion  of  theological  science.     The  Bampton  Lecture,  Christian 
Theology  and  Social  Progress,  by  Dr.  Bussell,  presents  a  valuable 
unorganized  mass  of  material,  from  which  others  may  derive 
much  help,  if  they  have  the  courage  to  face  the  task  of  searching 
through  the  pages  of  this  work  for  the  treasures  which  it  contains. 
Scotland  has  produced  the  Kerr  Lectures  of  Mr.  James  Kidd 
on  Religion  and  Morality.     The  rapid  development  of  interest  in 
General  Sociology   {e.g.,  in  the  works  of  F.  Giddings,  Albion 
W.  Small,  and  G.  E.  Vincent),  the  passion  for  practical  results 
in  the  relation  of  the  Church  to  the  life  of  the  people,  the  deep 


268  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

and  often  bitter  sense  of  responsibility  for  industrial  and  social 
conditions  which  are  found  to  be  cruel  and  intolerable  {e.g.,  in 
The  New  Basis  of  Civilization,  by  A.  N.  Patten ;  Sin  and  Society, 
by  E.  A.  Ross),  have  combined  to  stimulate  the  production  of 
many  books  dealing  with  the  influence  of  Christianity  in  this 
general  situation. 

One  set  might  be  arranged  of  books  which  discuss  the  teach- 
ing of  Jesus  in  its  social  aspects,  and  would  include  works  like 
those  of  Dr.  Francis  G.  Peabody  and  Dr.  Shailer  Mathews. 
Another  shelf  might  be  made  out  of  books  which  deal  with  the 
relation  of  the  Church  to  social  problems,  and  would  include 
works  like  Dr.  Rauschenbusch's  Christianity  in  the  Modern 
World,  J.  A.  Leighton's  Jesus  Christ  and  the  Civilization  of 
To-day,  as  well  as  many  others  by  Dr.  Lyman  Abbott,  President 
D.  W.  Hyde,  etc.  These  works  are  nearly  all  characterized 
by  great  earnestness  of  spirit,  by  thorough  acquaintance  with 
the  concrete  situation  in  which  the  Church  now  finds  itself,  and 
by  their  illumination  with  the  Christian  spirit.  If  one  ventured 
upon  a  criticism  of  them  as  a  whole,  it  would  be  that  they  suffer 
from  the  absence  of  just  that  feature  which  we  noted  above  as 
characterizing  the  systematic  work  of  German  theologians  upon 
Christian  Ethics.  The  discussions  of  social  ethics  in  America 
from  the  Christian  point  of  view  are  suspended,  as  it  were, 
upon  a  warm  but  vague  Christian  sentiment.  They  lack  the 
guiding  and  driving  power  of  a  clear  apprehension  concerning 
the  relation  of  practice  to  faith,  of  ethics  to  theology.  Hence 
even  their  value  as  occasional  discussions  is  weakened  by  their 
lack  of  this  systematizing  principle.  (It  is  only  fair  to  make 
a  partial  exception  to  this  criticism  in  the  case  of  Professor 
Leighton's  work,  and  of  Professor  C.  S.  Nash's  Ethics  and 
Revelation.) 

If  there  were  a  large  number  of  other  works  current  among 
the  readers  of  Christian  literature  in  this  country,  which  devel- 
oped this  inner  dependence  of  Christian  Ethics  upon  Christian 
Doctrine,  the  works  which  we  have  named  above  would  prove 
of  tenfold  more  power.  But  it  is  this  almost  complete  lack  of 
perception  of  that  inner  bond  between  the  Church's  work  and 
the  Church's  faith  which  at  once  weakens  these  books  and 
threatens  to  paralyze  the  Church  itself.  It  is  safe  to  say  that 
the  Church  can  never  redeem  society  by  forgetting  the  individual, 


CHRISTIAN   ETHICS  269 

any  more  than  it  can  thoroughly  perfect  the  individual  by  for- 
getting society.  In  other  words,  the  Church  which  loses  the 
sense  that  religion  has  its  own  rights  will  never  be  able  to  make 
it  serve  morality.  It  is  not  those  who  forget  to  love  God  who 
are  for  that  reason  better  fitted  to  love  their  neighbor,  any  more 
than  it  is  possible  for  a  man  to  say  that  he  loves  his  brother  whom 
he  hath  seen,  if  he  love  not  God  whom  he  hath  not  seen.  There 
is  a  great  truth  in  the  saying  that  the  Church  to  save  its  life  must 
lose  it,  to  perfect  the  world  must  not  seek  its  own  institutional 
glory ;  but  this  is  not  equivalent  to  saying  that  it  must  lose  its 
very  life  in  God  or  destroy  its  very  structure  as  the  body  of  the 
risen  Christ.  What  the  Church  must  learn  is  the  secret  of 
maintaining  its  own  position  in  the  world  as  the  creature  of  the 
Spirit  of  God,  as  the  organ  of  the  eternal  Kingdom,  as  the  means 
by  which  men  are  brought  into  possession  of  the  peace  of  God. 
It  is  out  of  man's  inner  spiritual  relations,  out  of  his  sense  of 
the  value  of  human  nature  in  the  eyes  of  God,  that  he  can  shape 
his  conceptions  of  life  in  this  world,  and  measure  both  the  quality 
and  the  scope  of  his  task  as  a  child  of  time.  This  means  that 
in  the  field  of  science  our  writers  on  the  subject  of  Christian 
Ethics  must  not  call  upon  the  Church  to  give  up  doctrine,  or  to 
pray  less,  or  to  seek  less  the  salvation  of  individual  souls,  or  to 
be  less  busied  with  the  inner  relations  of  each  man  with  his  God; 
but  in  a  more  systematic,  scientific  manner  to  reveal  the  facts 
that  religion  alone  can  preserve  the  highest  type  of  morality, 
and  that  no  Christian  ethic  is  complete  which  does  not  discover 
its  roots  in  a  theology  which  has  expounded  the  divine  signifi- 
cance of  human  nature,  and  which  has  learned  to  show  man  his 
own  value  in  the  presence  of  the  grace  of  God  and  the  hope  of 
eternal  life.  There  is  a  broad  field  here  for  the  next  generation 
of  American  theologians.  We  need  not,  indeed,  fewer  practical 
monographs  and  passionate  exhortations,  but  to  strengthen  these 
we  deeply  need  much  broad,  scientific  treatment  of  the  relation 
of  Christian  conduct  among  men  to  Christian  faith  in  God;  in 
fine,  a  systematic  exposition  of  the  dependence  of  Christian 
Ethics  upon  Christian  Theology. 


THEOLOGY   IN   BELLES-LETTRES 

Professor  Leverett  Wilson  Spring,  D.D. 
Williams  College 

The  Hartford  Theological  Seminary  began  just  as  a  famous 
literary  epoch  —  the  Age  of  Wordsworth  —  was  closing.  It  is 
not  probable  that  the  founders  of  the  new  institution  gave  much 
attention  to  the  theology  which  appeared  in  the  belles-lettres 
of  this  period.  They  were  moved  to  undertake  the  enterprise 
mainly  by  local  religious  conditions  —  by  the  alarming  dogmas 
that  were  gaining  a  foothold  in  the  churches  and  theological 
seminaries  of  New  England.  But  whatever  heed  they  may 
have  given  to  the  matter,  it  is  significant  that  a  similar  agita- 
tion was  disturbing  the  field  of  pure  literature.  Though  certain 
special  conditions,  like  the  inevitable  reaction  attending  the 
collapse  of  the  hopes  which  gave  rise  to  the  French  Revolution, 
may  have  modified  the  character  of  the  agitation,  yet  the  ap- 
pearance of  religious  and  theological  discussions  in  literature 
of  this  class  was  by  no  means  a  novelty,  as  the  plays  of  ^^schylus 
and  Sophocles,  the  Paradise  Lost  of  Milton  and  the  Divina 
Commedia  of  Dante  abundantly  prove.  What  weight  should  be 
given  to  the  conclusions  of  men  of  letters  in  these  matters,  com- 
pared with  those  of  the  professional  theologians,  is  a  different 
question  and  one  that  does  not  concern  us  at  present.  It  is  only 
necessary  to  remark  that  the  creeds  and  dogmas  of  the  church  — 
questions  of  fate,  free  will,  revelation,  and  human  immortality  — 
bulk  largely  in  the  great  literature  of  the  era.  And  another 
point  is  quite  as  unmistakable  —  a  more  or  less  radical  dissent 
from  current  theological  standards  pervades  it.  Shelley  took 
superfluous  pains  to  enroll  himself  among  the  non-believers; 
Keats,  despairing  of  the  present,  took  refuge  in  the  ancient  world 
of  Greek  chivalry  and  romance;  Byron  exclaimed  loudly  upon 
the  dogmas  of  the  Church;  Wordsworth  swung  away  from 
orthodox  formulas  into  a  mild  pantheism ;  and  Coleridge,  by  his 

270 


THEOLOGY   IN   BELLES-LETTRES  271 

penetrative  and  rationalizing  speculations,  set  in  motion  a  wide- 
reaching  theological  disturbance. 

The  Seminary,  then,  was  founded  at  the  end  of  a  literary  era 
dominated  by  an  aggressive  spirit  of  inquiry,  if  not  of  skepticism. 
In  the  seventy-five  years  that  followed  —  and  this  is  the  period 
to  which  our  brief  survey  is  limited  —  there  was  no  lack  of 
genius  either  among  the  poets  or  the  writers  of  prose.  Nor  did 
questions  of  theology  interest  them  less  deeply  than  they  had 
interested  their  immediate  predecessors.  Yet  one  does  not  need 
to  study  the  times  very  profoundly  to  perceive  that  conditions 
and  issues  have  essentially  changed.  While  no  disturbance 
like  the  great  Revolution  convulsed  the  last  three  quarters  of 
the  century,  the  political  and  civic  transformations,  the  progress 
of  education,  and  the  growth  of  the  classes  interested  in  books, 
were  phenomenal  and  inevitably  affected  the  general  status  of 
theology.  But  the  disintegrating  and  reconstructive  influence 
of  these  agencies  was  small  compared  with  that  of  modern 
physical  science,  the  rise  of  which  unsettled  the  old  creeds  and 
dogmas  so  seriously  that  some  readjustment  of  them  was  im- 
perative. Such  processes  are  accompanied  almost  inevitably 
by  depression  and  pessimism,  which,  in  the  nineteenth  century, 
are  seen  at  their  worst  in  James  Thomson's  The  City  of  Dreadful 
Night.  Scarcely  less  somber  at  the  outset  was  Swinburne's 
theology.  His  early  poems  brood  despondently  upon  the 
"mystery  of  the  cruelty  of  things"  and  bristle  with  charges  of 
malevolence  against  the  supreme  powers.  In  the  second  stage, 
which  began  with  the  publication  of  Songs  before  Sunrise  in 
187 1,  he  did  not  pass  beyond  a  pantheistic  worship  of  humanity 
—  in  fact  was  still  "on  the  hard  flat  road  of  total  disbelief."  If 
the  agnostic  theories  persist,  as  they  evidently  do,  in  subsequent 
periods,  they  are  held  with  a  less  aggressive  temper. 

In  no  other  great  writers  of  the  period  does  such  bleak  nihil- 
istic theology  appear.  They  are  unmistakably  within  the  lines 
of  Christianity.  Tennyson  and  Browning,  for  example,  though 
by  no  means  out  of  sympathy  with  the  main  currents  of  recent 
thought,  were  profoundly  religious.  If  they  rejected  in  part 
the  letter  of  the  creeds,  they  held  fast  to  the  spiritual  substance 
of  Christianity.  Tennyson,  while  he  believed  that  "modern 
scientific  theories  had  shattered  the  forms  in  which  past  genera- 
tions represented  the  essential  realities  of  life,"  had  little  sym- 


272  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

pathy  with  Agnosticism.  Browning  may  have  entertained  lib- 
eral views  in  regard  to  the  doctrine  of  the  atonement  and  of  eternal 
punishment;  he  may  have  rejected  the  sterner  articles  of  the 
creeds  and  now  and  then  exhibited  pantheistic  leanings,  yet 
no  one  can  question  the  extraordinary  spiritual  power  of  poems 
like  "Saul,"  "Christmas  Eve  and  Easter  Day,"  and  "The  Ring 
and  the  Book." 

From  a  theological  point  of  view  Matthew  Arnold  was  in 
many  respects  the  most  important  literary  figure  of  the  century. 
On  the  whole,  his  immediate  influence  in  liberalizing  current 
theology  seems  to  have  been  greater  than  that  of  Tennyson  or 
Browning.  Arnold,  like  his  friend  Clough,  passed  from  the 
sheltered  and  devout  life  of  Rugby  into  the  fierce  religious  con- 
troversies then  raging  at  Oxford.  Emerging  from  these  con- 
troversies with  the  conviction  that  the  old  faith  had  lost  its 
vitality,  that  "the  received  theology  of  the  churches  and  sects  is 
itself  now  a  hindrance  to  the  Bible  rather  than  a  help,"  he  under- 
took 'm  Literature  and  Dogma,  God  and  the  Bible,  and  other  books 
to  provide  a  substitute  which  should  be  "  a  real  experimental 
basis"  for  the  religious  life.  He  alone  among  contemporary 
men  of  letters  attempted  Biblical  criticism.  If  successful  work 
of  this  sort  demands  years  of  training  in  Oriental  scholarship, 
Arnold's  equipment  was  plainly  inadequate.  The  tribunal  of 
last  resort,  however,  in  settling  the  ultimate  questions  of  religion 
is  not  grammar  or  philology,  lexicons  or  manuscripts,  but  the 
elemental  instincts  and  convictions  of  humanity.  And  this  was 
in  substance  his  contention.  He  argued  that  the  Bible  is  not 
dogma  but  literature,  and  must  be  interpreted  in  harmony  with 
the  canons  of  literature,  which  involve  both  knowledge  of  facts 
and  "right  tact  and  delicacy  of  judgment."  In  this  way  he 
sought  to  relieve  the  book  from  the  old  traditional  scheme  which 
threatened  to  "pitch  it  to  the  winds,"  and  restore  it  to  its  lost 
preeminence  as  a  religious  document.  The  outcome  of  his 
labors  was  a  creedless  Christianity  of  sentiment. 

Thus  far  we  have  considered  for  the  most  part  —  the  chief 
exception  concerns  Matthew  Arnold  —  the  theology  of  poetry. 
In  the  narrow  space  available  little  more  can  be  attempted  than 
a  passing  reference  to  the  prose  that  lies  fairly  within  the  bound- 
aries of  belles-lettres.  Carlyle  renounced  the  presbyterianism 
of  his  ancestors,  and  the  latitudinarianism  of  Froude  was  ex- 


THEOLOGY   IN   BELLES-LETTRES  273 

treme.  In  George  Eliot's  Middlemarch,  in  Shorthouse's  John 
Inglesant,  in  Pater's  Marius  the  Epicurean,  and  in  Mrs.  Hum- 
phry Ward's  Robert  Elsmere  the  drift  toward  a  reconstructed 
and  liberal  theology  —  a  theology  emancipated  from  the  tyr- 
anny of  Calvinism  —  is  altogether  clear  and  indisputable. 

It  is  true,  however,  that  while  a  general  concord  prevailed, 
reactionary  movements,  like  the  poetry  of  the  Pre-Raphaelites 
and  the  prose  of  the  Tractarians,  were  not  wanting.  The  Pre- 
Raphaelites  may  have  been  what  Stopford  Brooke  calls  "  a  pleas- 
ant back-water  in  the  full  stream  of  a  nation's  poetry,"  but,  so 
far  as  they  proclaimed  the  incompleteness  of  every  theory  of 
life  which  ignores  or  discredits  the  imaginative  and  the  spiritual, 
they  rendered  to  the  world  a  conspicuous  service.  Of  the 
Tractarians,  Cardinal  Newman  was  the  most  distinguished 
representative.  In  that  remarkable  book,  his  Apologia  pro 
sua  Vita,  he  attempted  to  demonstrate  the  inadequacy  of 
Science  and  of  Protestantism  as  interpreters  and  guides  of  life. 
Some  solvent,  he  argued,  which  they  could  not  supply,  was 
necessary  for  disturbances  of  mind  and  soul,  for  doubts  and  fears 
and  heartaches  —  a  solvent  that  he  found  in  the  dictum  of  the 
Papal  See.  Whatever  effect  his  example  and  his  book  may 
have  had  upon  English  Protestantism,  they  were  powerless 
against  the  movements  of  Science,  Philosophy,  and  the  Higher 
Criticism. 

In  1834  American  literature  was  fairly  under  way.  The 
material  and  political  problems,  hitherto  so  imperative  and 
absorbing,  had  become  somewhat  less  urgent.  Many  of  the 
best-known  writers  antedate  the  foundation  of  the  Seminary. 
With  the  exception  of  Cooper  and  Irving,  they  belonged  to  New 
England,  then  and  for  a  considerable  period  before  and  after 
this  date  the  seat  of  a  theological  war  which  resulted  in  the  rise 
of  Unitarianism.  That  movement,  with  its  subsequent  phases 
of  Transcendentalism,  was  simply  a  reaction  from  the  despotic 
dogmas  of  Puritanism  —  from  Michael  Wigglesworth's  The 
Day  of  Doom  and  Jonathan  Edwards's  Sinners  in  the  Hands  of 
an  Angry  God.  We  have  no  occasion  to  consider  that  impor- 
tant movement  further  than  to  note  the  fact  that  it  found  in  the 
literature  of  the  period  a  powerful  ally.  Almost  invariably  the 
eminent  writers,  who  meddled  with  the  controversy  at  all, 
whether  in  earlier  or  later  stages,  followed  the  lead  of  their 


274  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

English  brethren  and  espoused  the  liberal  cause.  The  most 
conspicuous  figure  in  the  American  group  was  unquestionably 
Ralph  Waldo  Emerson.  Other  writers  may  surpass  him  at  this 
point  or  that,  but  on  the  whole  no  one  of  them  has  affected  the 
national  life  so  widely  and  deeply.  In  him  the  reaction  swung 
very  far  from  the  orthodox  standards.  This  does  not  mean  that 
there  is  any  formulated  theology  in  his  writings.  His  mind  was 
essentially  poetic,  and  it  is  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  construct 
out  of  his  writings  a  formal  system  of  dogmatics.  But  some 
points  are  clear  enough  —  that  the  universe,  so  far  from  being 
spent  and  bankrupt,  is  steadily  emerging  into  better  conditions ; 
that  the  Christian  religion  with  its  sacred  books,  with  its  life  and 
works  of  Jesus,  falls  "entirely  within  the  field  of  human  experi- 
ence." And  it  can  hardly  be  denied,  as  President  Eliot  has 
somewhere  pointed  out,  that  Emerson's  thought  anticipated 
"the  most  fruitful  acting  and  thinking  of  the  two  generations 
since  his  working  time." 

For  Emerson  the  break  with  current  theology  left  behind  no 
sting  of  bitterness.  His  nature  was  essentially  intellectual  and 
unemotional.  Dr.  Holmes,  who  passed  his  youth  in  an  atmos- 
phere of  radical  Calvinism,  had  a  different  temperament.  Sen- 
sitive and  impressionable,  this  unhappy  experience  awoke  in  him 
an  active  and  lifelong  hostility  to  that  creed  which  seemed  to  him 
to  be  in  the  main  "an  old  canonized  error."  In  Longfellow, 
Lowell,  and  Bryant  the  theological  note  is  relatively  incidental. 
They  are  less  radical  than  Emerson,  less  aggressive  than  Holmes. 
Whittier  passed  through  no  militant  experiences  of  religious 
emancipation.  He  inherited  the  sweetness  and  light  into  which 
other  New  England  men  of  letters  fought  their  way.  In  Haw- 
thorne's works  we  find  scant  sympathy  with  Puritan  theology. 
With  him  it  had  ceased  to  be  an  available  code  of  doctrine  and 
practice  for  the  conduct  of  life ;  had  taken  its  place  in  history, 
like  the  mythology  of  Greece  or  Rome,  and  had  become  simply 
a  motive  of  art.  Hence  the  impulse  which  led  him  to  depict 
the  retributions  of  sin  in  The  Scarlet  Letter  was  literary  rather 
than  theological  or  ethical. 

While  a  survey  of  the  theology  of  American  belles-lettres 
during  the  period  under  consideration  which  attempted  any- 
thing like  a  detailed  treatment  of  the  subject  would  include  a 
considerable  number  of  books  like  Gates  Ajar  and  John  Ward, 


THEOLOGY   IN   BELLES-LETTRES  275 

Preacher,  we  shall  touch  upon  those  of  two  more  writers  only  — 
Sidney  Lanier  and  Walt  Whitman.  It  would  be  difficult  to 
imagine  men  of  greater  contrasts  and  unlikenesses.  In  Lanier 
we  find  delicacy,  sensitiveness,  and  imaginative  subtlety  of  a  high 
order  While  the  artistic  temper  dominates  his  verse,  it  is  not 
wanting  in  theological  didacticism.  Reared  under  a  stern 
Calvinistic  discipline,  he  reconstructed  somewhat  radically  the 
theology  which  he  inherited.  But  whatever  else  he  may  have 
abandoned,  he  never  lost  the  Christlike  spirit  —  a  spirit  which 
perhaps  reaches  its  happiest  expression  in  the  poem  "  How  Love 
looked  for  Hell."  Whitman  is  another  sort  of  man.  In  him, 
whatever  poetic  distinction  he  may  be  finally  accorded,  there  is 
an  overplus  of  the  earthy.  As  for  his  theology  the  word  which 
describes  it  most  exactly  seems  to  be  *' non-Christian."  He 
supposed  that  the  Bible  and  the  Church  were  in  the  final 
stages  of  decadence,  that  they  would  soon  be  supplanted  by 
some  new  and  better  faith,  of  which  his  Leaves  of  Grass 
might  be  the  forerunner. 

The  general  conclusion  which  from  our  survey  seems  to  be 
inevitable  is  that  the  foremost  men  of  letters,  English  and 
American,  of  the  nineteenth  century,  rejecting  more  or  less  com- 
pletely the  Calvinistic  interpretation  of  Christianity,  and  teaching 
"the  essential  unity  of  intellectual  and  spiritual  life,"  were  in 
accord  with  the  temper  and  results  of  modern  research  and 
scholarship.  That  there  should  have  been  among  them  so 
little  conflict  and  so  much  harmony  in  regard  to  questions  of 
theology  is  a  matter  of  large  significance. 


VI.   THE    MODERN    CHURCHES 

THE    MODERN   EUROPEAN   CHURCH 

Professor  Curtis  Manning  Geer,  Ph.D. 
Hartford  Theological  Seminary 

There  have  been  marked  changes  in  the  Church  in  Europe 
and  America  aUke  during  the  last  seventy-five  years.  The 
most  striking  have  been  the  tendencies  to  make  Christianity 
more  practical,  and  for  the  Church  to  take  a  larger  part  in  the 
everyday  affairs  of  life.  Men  are  no  longer  interested  ex- 
clusively in  the  question,  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved?  but  are 
also  asking  themselves.  What  can  I  do  to  save  the  world? 
And  this  latter  question  is  larger  than  it  was  three  quarters  of  a 
century  ago.  More  and  more  the  Church  has  come  to  interest 
itself  in  all  problems  which  have  to  do  with  human  welfare. 
This  feeling  of  responsibility  appeared  in  the  preceding  century. 
Francke  and  the  other  German  Pietists  did  not  find  satisfaction 
in  merely  saving  their  own  souls.  Wesley  realized  that  the  world 
was  his  parish,  and  as  a  result  there  began  the  various  Christian 
philanthropic  interests  which  have  continued  down  to  our  own 
day.  The  new  eagerness  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  all  the  nations 
was  a  part  of  this  general  religious  awakening.  Since  1834 
there  has  been  an  extension  of  the  movement  already  begun  both 
in  Europe  and  America. 

The  year  1834  may  be  regarded  as  the  close  of  the  pioneer 
period  in  European  interest  in  foreign  missions.  The  English 
Baptists  had  given  William  Carey  to  the  work  in  India,  and  his 
remarkably  useful  life  came  to  an  end  in  1834,  after  he  had 
translated  the  Bible  into  twenty-five  languages  and  dialects, 
making  it  accessible  to  more  than  three  hundred  million  human 
beings.  He  had  lived  to  see  the  gifts  of  the  English  Baptists 
for  foreign  missions  increase  from  nothing  to  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars  a  year.  This  increase  has  continued,  until 
now  it  is  five  times  that  amount. 

276 


THE  MODERN  EUROPEAN  CHURCH    277 

Another  pioneer  who  closed  a  long  and  useful  life  in  1834 
was  Robert  Morrison,  who  lived  to  complete  his  Chinese  diction- 
ary and  to  gain  a  few  converts  from  heathenism  —  in  these  two 
ways  preparing  the  ground  for  those  who,  coming  from  Europe 
and  America,  were  to  be  the  means  under  God  of  producing 
such  great  changes  in  the  Orient  in  the  course  of  the  next  seventy- 
five  years.  The  foundations  laid  by  these  men  and  others  like 
them  have  been  built  upon  by  the  subsequent  generations,  and 
interest  in  missions  has  steadily  grown  in  all  the  European 
Churches. 

In  England  seventy-five  years  ago  there  were  seven  mis- 
sionary societies,  and  the  interest  in  world-evangelization  was 
confined  to  comparatively  few.  To-day  there  are  more  than 
twenty  important  organizations  devoted  to  foreign  evangeliza- 
tion, and  the  interest  in  such  work  is  very  general.  The  money 
expended  has  increased  out  of  proportion  to  the  advance  in 
population  and  church  membership.  The  London  Mission- 
ary Society  has  increased  its  annual  contribution  from  $230,000 
to  $772,000;  the  Wesleyan,  from  $300,000  to  more  than 
$1,000,000.  When  Henry  Thomas  Pelham  entered  upon  his 
long  and  successful  career  as  president  of  the  Church  Mission- 
ary Society  in  1834,  the  income  for  the  year  was  about  $250,000. 
According  to  the  last  report,  the  income  for  the  year  was 
$1,864,485,  a  sevenfold  increase. 

There  has  been  a  similar  increase  of  interest  in  world-wide 
evangelization  on  the  continent  of  Europe.  New  societies  have 
been  organized  and  old  ones  have  broadened  their  work;  but 
it  is  true  now,  as  it  was  then,  that  the  larger  part  of  the  Protes- 
tant missionary  activity  of  the  world  is  carried  on  by  the  English- 
speaking  nations. 

Like  foreign  missions,  Christian  education  through  the 
Sunday-school  was  already  well  established  seventy-five  years 
ago.  This  has  now  become  almost  universal  wherever  there 
is  a  Christian  church.  Some  of  the  ablest  of  our  religious  teach- 
ers and  organizers  have  devoted  themselves  to  the  problems  of 
the  Sunday-school,  so  that  there  have  been  great  advances  in  all 
departments  of  this  line  of  Christian  activity. 

The  practical  spirit  in  Christian  life  has  manifested  itself  in 
some  striking  ways  in  the  religious  life  of  Germany.  It  was 
proposed  in  1882,  at  the  three  hundredth  anniversary  of  the 


278  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

death  of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  that  a  memorial  be  established  in 
honor  of  the  Swedish  king,  and  that  it  be  of  such  a  nature  that 
it  would  continue  his  work.  The  result  was  the  formation  of 
the  Gustavus  Adolphus  Society,  having  for  its  object  the  pro- 
tection and  help  of  German  Protestants  in  other  lands,  especially 
those  under  Catholic  rule.  Many  Protestant  Germans  were  in 
Austria  and  other  Catholic  countries,  where  it  was  exceedingly 
difficult  for  them  to  support  Protestant  worship  and  to  give  their 
children  an  education,  except  in  the  Catholic  schools.  This 
movement  met  with  instant  approval.  There  were  two  separate 
organizations  at  first,  which  in  1884  united,  making  Leipzig 
the  headquarters.  A  fund  has  been  collected,  and  in  addition 
there  are  yearly  gifts  from  the  members  of  the  twenty-five 
hundred  branch  societies.  There  are  branch  societies  now  all 
over  Protestant  Germany  and  Sweden.  About  fifty  million 
marks  have  been  expended.  More  than  five  thousand  churches 
have  been  assisted,  and  about  four  thousand  churches,  chapels, 
schoolhouses,  orphan  asylums,  etc.,  have  been  erected.  The 
annual  income  is  now  about  two  million  marks,  and  the  society 
forms  a  common  center  for  the  activity  of  the  Protestant  churches 
of  Germany. 

The  practical  character  of  Christianity  in  Germany  is  shown 
at  its  best  in  the  Inner  Mission.  This  was  organized  in  1848  by 
Pastor  Wichern  of  Hamburg,  the  object  being  "to  renew  within 
and  without  the  condition  of  those  multitudes  in  Christendom 
upon  whom  has  fallen  the  power  of  manifold  external  and  in- 
ternal evils  which  spring  directly  or  indirectly  from  sin,  so 
far  as  they  are  not  reached  by  the  usual  Christian  offices." 
It  was  an  appeal  to  German  Christians  to  turn  their  energies 
to  the  solution  of  social  problems  in  the  spirit  of  Christ.  The 
idea  was  eagerly  taken  up,  and  a  central  committee  organized 
in  1849  which  now  has  about  two  hundred  societies  in  affiliation 
with  it.  America  has  nothing  corresponding  to  the  scope  of 
this  society.  In  a  general  way  it  covers  all  that  is  included 
under  home  missions,  city  missions,  and  charitable  and  social 
work,  and  has  the  advantage  which  comes  from  a  systematic 
plan.  A  few  of  the  more  important  lines  of  work  are  as  fol- 
lows: In  the  larger  cities  well-equipped  city  missions  are 
maintained.  Nearly  every  city  has  its  labor-bureau  and  boys' 
club.     Thousands    of    Sunday-schools    are   maintained.     Hos- 


THE   MODERN   EUROPEAN   CHURCH         279 

pitals  for  idiots,  blind,  deaf  and  dumb,  epileptics,  etc.,  are  con- 
ducted by  the  society.  Labor  colonies,  prisoners'  aid  societies, 
temperance  and  ethical  societies,  and  homes  for  sailors  are 
among  its  activities.  In  fact,  any  kind  of  social  or  religious 
reform,  any  movement  for  social  betterment,  is  within  the  scope 
of  the  Inner  Mission's  work.  It  is  increasingly  successful,  and 
is  one  of  the  most  powerful  factors  in  Germany  in  checking 
anti-Christian  Socialism.  It  is  an  institution  which  might  with 
profit  be  adopted  in  other  countries. 

In  the  Church  of  England,  Tractarianism  had  just  begun 
seventy-five  years  ago.  Some  of  the  ablest  men  in  the  Episcopal 
communion  were  alarmed  at  the  spread  of  the  Evangelical 
movement  and  feared  that  disestablishment  was  at  hand.  They 
desired  to  stop  the  tendency  away  from  what  they  regarded  as 
essential  in  the  Church,  and  so  they  issued  the  series  of  papers 
known  as  Tracts  for  the  Times.  In  this  agitation  great  em- 
phasis was  placed  upon  the  efficacy  of  the  sacraments,  especially 
ordination  and  the  eucharist.  Apostolic  succession  was  re- 
garded as  essential  to  the  Church,  and  episcopacy  was  con- 
sidered, not  only  as  the  best,  but  as  the  only  form  of  church 
organization.  The  Tracts  for  the  Times  led  to  a  sharp  con- 
troversy because  of  their  Romanizing  teachings.  Some  of  the 
leaders,  such  as  Newman  and  Manning,  went  over  to  Roman- 
ism; others,  like  Keble  and  Pusey,  remained  as  high  church- 
men. The  influence  of  the  controversy  still  continues  through 
the  present  Ritualistic  party.  This  movement  was  not  without 
its  good  result.  Great  emphasis  was  placed  on  worship  and  its 
accessories,  such  as  architecture  and  music.  Cathedrals  have 
been  restored  at  great  expense,  and  more  attention  has  been  paid 
to  the  beauty  and  dignity  of  public  worship.  A  new  interest  in 
the  Church  arose  resulting  in  various  organizations  for  religious 
and  philanthropic  activity. 

The  practical  character  of  Christian  work  in  the  English 
Church  is  shown  at  its  best  in  Christian  Socialism.  The  unrest 
in  England  following  the  Napoleonic  wars  resulted  in  the  Reform 
Bill  of  1832.  Workingmen  and  the  middle  class  had  united 
in  their  efforts  to  bring  about  the  desired  changes.  This  bill 
took  political  power  away  from  the  landed  aristocracy  and  gave 
it  to  the  middle  class,  but  there  was  no  improvement  in  the  con- 
dition of  the  laborers.     The  middle  class,  having  secured  what 


28o  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

they  desired  in  the  way  of  political  rights,  showed  no  longer  a 
desire  to  help  the  laborers,  so  that  the  workmen  turned  bitterly 
against  aristocracy  and  middle  class  alike.  They  saw  the  revo- 
lutionary changes  going  on  in  France  and  in  other  Continental 
countries.  They  united  in  a  demand  for  certain  privileges,  the 
most  important  one  being  that  of  universal  suffrage.  They 
demanded  either  their  charter  or  a  republic.  Socialism  of  a 
very  anti-Christian  character,  imported  from  France,  spread 
rapidly,  and  the  gulf  between  the  Church  and  the  masses  be- 
came wider  every  day,  till  Maurice  and  Kingsley  and  a  few 
like-minded  men  united  in  an  effort  to  show  that  at  least  some 
of  the  Church  of  England  ministers  were  friends  of  Labor.  They 
tried  to  bring  the  Church  and  the  people  nearer  together  and  in 
various  ways  to  improve  the  condition  of  the  workers.  They 
did  not  accomplish  all  that  they  hoped.  Their  cooperative 
plans,  which  were  to  do  away  with  the  competitive  system,  were 
not  successful,  but  they  did  bring  about  a  friendlier  feeling  be- 
tween the  different  classes  and  started  movements  which  are 
still  continuing  to  exert  their  influence.  More  important  than 
the  different  movements  themselves  was  the  introduction  of  a 
new  spirit,  preventing  that  alienation  between  Church  and 
workers  which  has  been  such  a  marked  feature  on  the 
Continent.  England  has  thus  far  escaped  the  strongly  anti- 
Christian  Socialism  which  has  been  so  characteristic  of  indus- 
trial movements  on  the  Continent. 

One  of  the  important  movements  in  the  latter  part  of  our 
period  has  been  the  rise  and  growth  of  the  Salvation  Army.  It 
is  an  expression,  on  the  one  hand,  of  the  practical  spirit  of  pres- 
ent-day Christianity,  the  feeling  that  there  is  no  depth  of  misery 
too  great  for  the  Spirit  of  Christ  to  reach  and  elevate.  And 
it  also  shows,  what  has  appeared  time  and  again  in  the  past, 
that  when  one  class  or  form  of  work  is  being  neglected,  there 
arises  a  new  leader  for  the  occasion.  Just  so  Francis  of  Assisi 
looked  out  and  saw  the  Church  neglecting  preaching  and  teach- 
ing the  lowest  classes,  and  himself  took  up  the  work.  Wyclif 
and  his  Lollards  did  the  same  thing  when  the  Franciscans  had 
become  negligent.  Later  Wesley  did  the  same  for  the  neglected 
in  England;  and  in  the  last  century  Wesley's  follower.  General 
Booth,  and  his  consecrated  wife,  again  went  down  into  the  depths 
of  the  misery  of  the  crowded  cities.     General  Booth  must  be 


THE  MODERN  EUROPEAN  CHURCH    281 

recognized  as  one  of  the  great  men  of  the  century,  and  his  work, 
with  all  its  crudeness,  as  one  of  the  most  profoundly  Christian. 
In  the  closing  years  of  our  epoch  this  feeling  of  the  practical 
nature  of  Christianity  has  been  growing  with  great  vigor,  es- 
pecially among  the  English-speaking  nations.  As  never  before. 
Christians  are  realizing  that  Christ  wants  His  followers  to  make 
this  the  best  possible  world,  as  well  as  to  prepare  themselves  for 
the  next.  How  this  is  to  be  done,  is  the  question;  and  the 
answer  seems  to  be,  by  working  together;  so  that  now  the  most 
important  question  is  that  of  Church  union,  how  the  scattered 
and  often  antagonistic  forces  in  Christendom  may  work  as  a 
unit.  Many  important  changes  in  this  direction  have  occurred 
in  recent  years  and  others  are  on  the  way.  This  movement 
toward  unity,  the  breaking  of  denominational  barriers,  or  united 
efforts  in  spite  of  the  barriers,  is  one  of  the  great  advances  of  the 
later  years  of  our  period  and  is  the  one  of  greatest  promise  for 
the  years  to  come. 

The  past  seventy-five  years  form  an  eventful  period  in  the 
history  of  the  Papacy.  There  have  been  changes  which  must 
exert  a  permanent  influence  on  institutions.  One  remarkable 
fact  is,  that  for  nearly  all  this  period  the  Papacy  was  under  the 
control  of  a  succession  of  three  men.  There  is  no  .parallel  to 
this  in  all  papal  history.  This  no  doubt  gave  a  continuity  of 
policy  and  aided  in  increasing  the  power  of  the  Papacy.  One 
marked  change  has  been  the  loss  of  temporal  power.  Seventy- 
five  years  ago  the  Pope  was  one  of  the  secular  rulers  of  Europe. 
To-day  he  is  such  only  by  courtesy,  and  considers  himself 
wronged,  deposed,  and  a  prisoner  in  the  Vatican.  From  the 
early  Middle  Ages  the  Roman  Bishop  exercised  sovereignty  over 
central  Italy  from  sea  to  sea.  Efforts  were  made  by  the  Ital- 
ians from  the  days  of  the  Lombard  kings  to  form  a  united  Italy. 
Surrounded  as  the  people  were  on  three  sides  by  the  sea  and  on 
the  fourth  by  the  mountains,  a  unit  in  language  and  tradition, 
it  seems  strange  at  first  thought  that  the  peninsula  was  so  slow 
in  becoming  a  nation.  But  the  trouble  was  always  the  papal 
lands  separating  northern  from  southern  Italy.  Napoleon's 
conquest  of  the  peninsula  accustomed  the  people  to  the  thought 
of  unity,  even  if  it  was  a  unity  under  a  foreign  conqueror.  This 
was  never  lost  sight  of  in  the  following  years.  Finally  Victor 
Emmanuel  of  Sardinia  was  elected  as  the  leader,  and,  with  the 


282  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

help  of  Cavour  and  Garibaldi,  this  unity  was  brought  about. 
Rome  resisted  to  the  last,  but  when  the  French  troops  were 
withdrawn  at  the  time  of  the  Franco-Prussian  war,  Victor 
Emmanuel  became  king  of  the  united  country  with  Rome  as  his 
capital.  The  Pope  refused  the  pension  offered  him  as  an  equiva- 
lent for  the  revenue  derived  from  his  lost  lands  and  has  remained 
in  the  Vatican. 

This  loss  of  temporal  power  is  regarded  by  the  Pope  as  an 
unjust  deprivation  of  what  belongs  to  him  by  right,  but  it  gave 
him  the  opportunity  to  exercise  his  spiritual  functions  without 
becoming  involved  in  European  political  problems,  and  it  is  a 
question  whether  his  influence  is  not  greater  now  than  in  the 
days  when  he  was  a  political  ruler. 

There  have  been  also  some  very  decided  changes  in  the 
position  and  claims  of  the  Pope  in  the  course  of  seventy-five 
years  in  the  direction  of  a  clearer  assertion  of  spiritual  suprem- 
acy. In  the  history  of  doctrine  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
this  period  is  marked  by  the  papal  promulgation  of  the  dogma 
of  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  the  Virgin,  so  that  since  1854 
no  one  can  be  a  good  Catholic  unless  he  believes  that  the  Virgin 
Mary,  like  Jesus  Christ,  was  born  free  from  any  taint  of  sin.  It 
is  the  logical  result  of  the  veneration  paid  to  Mary  through  many 
centuries.  Ten  years  later  the  Syllabus  was  issued  pointing  out 
modern  errors  which  Catholics  were  to  avoid,  and  in  1907  a 
somewhat  similar  encyclical  was  published  against  "Modern- 
ism," in  which  the  Pope  made  it  evident  that  the  time  has  not 
yet  arrived  when  a  Catholic  may  think  for  himself.  No  philoso- 
phy is  to  be  tolerated  except  the  scholastic  philosophy,  no  place 
is  given  for  any  new  interpretation  of  Biblical  statements.  The 
truth  has  been  settled  for  all  time  by  the  scholars  of  long-past 
centuries.  The  officials  of  the  Church  are  directed  to  sup- 
press those  who  have  modern  ideas,  whether  they  are  teachers 
or  preachers,  and  rigorously  to  exclude  from  the  priesthood  any 
candidates  tainted  with  Modernism.  Nor  are  the  clergy  in 
their  rarely  permitted  assemblies  to  discuss  such  subjects  as 
may  not  meet  with  the  approval  of  their  superiors.  There  is 
restlessness  in  the  Church  as  a  result  of  this  deliverance.  Some 
few  have  openly  broken  away,  but  the  vast  majority  of  the 
clergy,  with  strong  devotion  to  the  mother  Church,  have  sub- 
mitted.    This  must  rank  with  the  dogma  of  Papal  Infallibility 


THE  MODERN  EUROPEAN  CHURCH    283 

as  one  of  the  great  mistakes  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  recent 
years.  Men  will  continue  to  think,  and  any  attempt  to  suppress 
thought  in  the  twentieth  century  will  result  in  failure.  The 
Church  cannot  have  the  hearty  support  of  its  ablest  men  in  any 
such  eflfort. 

Perhaps  the  most  significant  event  in  the  recent  history  of  the 
Papacy  was  the  decree  of  Papal  Infallibility  at  the  Vatican 
Council  of  1870.  This  was  the  logical  outcome  of  the  policy  of 
the  Church  for  many  centuries.  There  had  been  a  long  strife 
in  the  Catholic  Church  over  the  question  of  the  supreme  power, 
whether  it  was  vested  in  a  general  Council  or  in  the  Pope.  It  was 
left  to  the  nineteenth  century  to  decide  this  issue.  The  Vatican 
Council  decreed  that  the  Pope,  speaking  ex  cathedra  as  the  pas- 
tor and  teacher  of  Christendom,  was  infallible.  Here  we  have 
the  summit  of  the  papal  system.  There  can  be  no  advance 
beyond  this,  and  apparently  no  retreat.  This  produced  great 
dissatisfaction  amongst  educated  Catholics,  especially  in  Ger- 
many, resulting  in  the  formation  of  the  Old  Catholic  party, 
which  did  not  accept  the  doctrine  of  papal  infallibility. 

In  its  relation  to  the  different  nations  of  Europe  the  Catholic 
Church  has  shown  great  strength.  Apparently  defeated  in  Ger- 
many in  its  conflict  with  Bismarck  over  the  May  Laws,  it  was 
nevertheless  in  the  end  victorious,  owing  to  political  complica- 
tions, and  still  retained  control  of  the  education  of  its  clergy. 
It  has  gained  in  strength  amongst  the  German-speaking  people, 
so  that  it  is  probably  stronger  now  in  that  country  than  at  any 
time  since  the  German  Reformation. 

Whether  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  has  gained  or  lost  in 
Europe  in  the  course  of  the  last  three  quarters  of  a  century, 
is  a  question  that  is  answered  differently  by  different  persons. 
The  expectations  raised  by  the  Tractarian  movement  were  never 
fully  realized,  because  only  a  few  went  over  to  Romanism  from 
Episcopacy.  France  can  no  longer  be  called  a  Catholic  country, 
and  the  Pope  is  no  longer  a  temporal  ruler.  On  the  other  hand, 
long-cherished  plans  have  been  carried  out,  especially  in  the 
proclamation  of  infallibility.  There  have  been  but  few  who  have 
turned  away  from  Catholicism  to  Protestantism,  and  Catholic 
Europe  to-day  is  well  organized  and  loyal  to  the  Pope. 


THE   CONGREGATIONAL   CHURCHES 

Professor  Samuel  Simpson,  Ph.D. 
Hastford  Theological  Seminary 

History  is  in  large  measure  the  record  of  physical  achieve- 
ments. If  this  is  true  of  history  in  general,  it  is  even  more  true 
of  American  history.  The  task  before  all  others  that  confronted 
the  early  immigrants  to  America  was  the  exploitation  of  virgin 
territory,  the  conquest  of  untamed  nature,  and  the  conver- 
sion of  her  unlimited  resources  to  the  uses  of  man.  Little  did 
these  early  pioneers  appreciate  the  immensity  of  the  undertaking ; 
even  less  did  they  foresee  the  speed  at  which  the  encircling 
forests  would  be  made  to  bow  before  the  restless  energy  and 
superior  intelligence  of  succeeding  generations  of  their  de- 
scendants. 

The  material  and  industrial  development  of  a  people  may  seem 
a  matter  of  minor  interest  as  compared  with  their  political, 
social,  and  religious  achievements;  and  yet  it  must  be  admitted 
that  these  last  are  necessarily  influenced  and  conditioned  by 
physical  facts.  The  religious  life  of  a  people  or  period  should 
be  studied  with  more  or  less  reference  to  its  physical  setting. 
The  progress  during  a  given  period  of  any  one  of  the  many 
denominational  units  into  which  American  Christianity  is  divided 
is  best  comprehended  in  the  light  of  contemporary  social,  poUtical, 
and  economic  conditions. 

New  England,  the  home  and  stronghold  of  Congregationalism, 
hemmed  in  to  the  westward  by  states  whose  inhabitants  differed 
from  her  own,  was  destined  to  be  provincial.  Agriculture  and 
the  sea,  with  its  fisheries  and  commerce,  provided  occupation  for 
the  masses  of  her  people  until  the  trade  restrictions  of  the  period 
prior  to  and  during  the  War  of  1812  gave  a  new  and  permanent 
importance  to  manufactures.  Her  people  at  this  time  were  of 
almost  pure  English  origin  or  extraction,  differing  markedly  in 
this  respect  from  other  sections  of  the  country. 

284 


THE   CONGREGATIONAL   CHURCHES         285 

By  1820  a  radical  change  in  the  life  of  New  England  was 
everywhere  apparent,  due  to  the  heavy  drafts  made  on  her 
population  by  the  tide  of  westward  emigration,  and  by  new  de- 
velopments of  a  social  and  economic  nature.  By  the  west- 
ward shifting  of  population  New  England  was  now  relatively 
weaker  than  the  states  beyond  the  Alleghanies.  The  popula- 
tion of  New  England  in  1830  was  less  than  two  millions,  about 
half  that  of  the  states  west  of  the  Alleghanies,  scarcely  more 
people  than  were  to  be  found  northward  of  the  Ohio  alone. 
It  is  plain  from  this  that  New  England  as  an  integral  section 
of  the  country  no  longer  occupied  the  position  of  importance 
it  once  held. 

The  social  and  economic  loss,  as  well  as  the  loss  of  political 
prestige  entailed  by  the  westward  movement,  was  offset,  in 
some  measure  at  least,  by  the  extraordinary  growth  of  her 
shipping  industry,  owing  to  the  paralysis  of  European  competitors 
during  the  Napoleonic  wars.  A  little  later  the  spoHation  of 
neutral  trade  by  the  belligerent  powers  and  the  retaliatory  meas- 
ures of  Congress  resulted  in  the  almost  complete  prostration  of 
New  England  shipping,  but  proved,  on  the  other  hand,  a  powerful 
stimulus  to  manufactures.  The  cotton  and  woolen  industries 
developed  as  by  magic.  Textile  mills  sprang  up  along  the  water- 
courses of  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  and  Massachusetts, 
and  the  more  favorable  spots  became  the  sites  of  factory  towns. 
It  was  at  this  time  that  New  England  began  to  have  a  distinct 
laboring  class.  The  wages  of  the  mills  drew  the  sons  and  daugh- 
ters from  the  farms,  attracted  immigrants  from  abroad,  and  thus 
better  enabled  New  England  to  hold  her  own  in  the  face  of  the 
great  inducements  offered  by  the  cheap  and  fertile  lands  of  the 
great  West. 

The  changes  we  have  noted  led  to  social  and  racial  changes 
quite  as  great.  The  influx  of  laborers  from  abroad  tended  di- 
rectly to  the  subversion  of  that  sectional  and  racial  unity  which 
had  hitherto  been  so  strong.  Agriculture  had  begun  to  decline. 
By  1830  the  production  of  breadstuffs  in  New  England  was  not 
sufficient  for  the  needs  of  the  people. 

The  economic  and  social  changes  of  which  mention  has  been 
made  were  accompanied  by  political  changes  of  no  less  impor- 
tance. Federalist  ideas  no  longer  held  undisputed  sway.  The 
growth  of  the  Baptists  and  Methodists  in  the  newer  outlying 


286  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

communities  was  fraught  with  poHtical  as  well  as  religious  sig- 
nificance. The  Congregational  clergy,  being  of  the  conservative 
and  governing  class,  gave  their  support  to  the  Federalist  party. 
The  Baptists  and  Methodists  tended  naturally  to  unite  against 
the  Congregationalists  and  to  adopt  opposing  political  views. 
It  was  inevitable  under  the  circumstances  that  the  Episcopalians, 
as  sharers  of  a  common  grievance,  should  seek  alliance  with 
these  and  with  all  other  fellow-dissentients  against  the  Con- 
gregationalists and  the  Federalist  party.  This  union  of  dis- 
senters against  the  established  class  and  the  Federalists  is  the 
central  fact  which  explains  the  political  situation  of  that  period. 
And  yet  the  religious  question  was  so  closely  identified  with  the 
cause  of  New  England's  rising  democracy  that  the  struggle 
bore  in  reality  a  political  rather  than  a  religious  aspect.  In 
Connecticut  Congregationalism  was  practically  disestablished 
in  1818.  The  combined  anti-Congregational  and  Republican 
forces  achieved  a  similar  triumph  in  New  Hampshire  about  the 
same  time.  In  Massachusetts  the  rise  of  Liberalism  and  the 
theological  discussion  which  it  provoked  had  a  modifying  effect 
on  the  views  of  contending  parties,  making  them  as  a  whole 
more  tolerant  in  their  attitude  toward  one  another.  The  effect 
of  this  was  to  give  to  the  Congregational  establishment  a  longer 
lease  of  life  in  Massachusetts  than  in  any  of  her  sister  states. 
It  was  not  until  1833  that  complete  separation  of  Church  and 
State  was  effected  in  Massachusetts. 

Broadly  speaking,  the  citadel  of  conservative  Congregational 
strength  lay  in  the  region  of  the  Connecticut  valley,  while  the 
more  liberal  and  anti-Congregational  forces  were  most  numerous 
in  northern  New  England  —  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Ver- 
mont, along  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  and  in  the  region  of  the 
Berkshires.  It  will  help  us  better  to  understand  western  Con- 
gregationalism if  we  bear  in  mind  that  the  remote  rural  districts 
of  New  England,  where  Democracy  and  opposition  to  the 
established  order  were  strong,  were  those  which  furnished  the 
largest  quota  of  emigrants  for  the  settlements  of  the  Middle 
West.  A  fair  proportion  of  these  might  be  classed  as  radicals; 
the  majority,  however,  deserve  to  be  characterized  by  no  stronger 
term  than  dissenters;  both  were  the  inheritors  of  two  centuries  of 
Puritan  training,  and  neither  class  was  quite  able  to  divest  itself 
of  its  New  England  conscience.     The  tendency  of  the  New  Eng- 


THE   CONGREGATIONAL   CHURCHES         287 

lander,  wherever  he  pitched  his  tent,  was  to  become  a  reformer, 
to  lay  down  rules  of  conduct  for  himself,  and  incidentally  to  insist 
on  their  observance  by  his  neighbor.  His  opposition  to  the 
established  order  in  the  section  from  which  he  had  gone  out, 
coupled  with  the  sudden  release  from  its  restraining  influences, 
rendered  him  especially  open  to  new  ideas  and  willing  to  accept 
fellowship  in  the  Presbyterian  or  even  the  Baptist  or  Methodist 
fold. 

The  rise  of  Liberalism  and  the  consequences  to  which  it 
led  constitutes  a  chapter  of  nineteenth-century  New  England 
history  too  important  to  be  wholly  passed  over.  For  many  years 
the  Congregational  leaders  of  Boston  and  vicinity  had  quietly 
entertained  an  ever-increasing  hospitality  toward  the  Arian 
speculations  long  current  in  England,  among  Presbyterians 
especially.  The  effect  of  this  Arian  leaven  was  greatly  to  alter 
the  character  of  pulpit-teaching  in  many  of  the  eastern  Massa- 
chusetts churches.  The  Calvinistic  doctrines  respecting  sin, 
human  depravity,  and  the  atonement  were  no  longer  heard. 
In  place  of  the  older  teachings  much  emphasis  was  laid  on  the 
fatherhood  of  God,  the  dignity  of  man,  and  the  importance  of 
high  ethical  conduct  and  ideals.  The  Liberal  or  Unitarian 
movement,  so  far  as  the  making  of  disciples  was  concerned, 
was  confined  to  narrow  territorial  limits,  but  within  those  limits 
its  conquest  was  amazingly  complete.  Harvard  College  fell 
speedily  under  its  dominance,  and  among  its  followers  were  to  be 
found  in  large  numbers  people  of  high  culture  and  social  stand- 
ing. An  attempted  readjustment  of  a  hardly  conscious  nature 
between  Liberals  and  Orthodox  led  to  the  formation  of  a  new 
theological  party  on  the  basis  of  a  modified  Calvinism.  The 
doctrinal  conflicts  and  attempted  readjustments  which  occupy 
so  large  a  place  in  the  history  of  eighteenth-century  Congre- 
gationalism effectually  dissipated  whatever  of  unity  the  older 
faith  possessed  and  resulted  finally  in  a  sort  of  eclecticism  of  re- 
ligious and  moral  ideas.  These  ideas  found  a  worthy  vehicle 
of  expression  in  a  new  literary  movement  in  New  England,  a 
movement  in  which  the  influence  of  Unitarianism  was  strongly 
reflected. 

A  study  of  later  Congregational  history,  however  brief,  re- 
quires that  some  allusion  be  made  to  the  series  of  evangelical 
revivals  which  began  near  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  and 


288  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

with  frequent  recurrence  continued  for  upward  of  fifty  years. 
These  profound  emotional  stirrings  exerted  a  most  potent  in- 
fluence in  promoting  and  molding  the  progress  of  Congregation- 
alism throughout  the  intervening  years  of  the  last  century. 

The  first  of  these  movements  (i  797-1801)  made  its  appearance 
simultaneously  and  unheralded  in  many  widely  separated  com- 
munities. The  work  began  and  progressed  under  the  direction 
of  the  regularly  appointed  leaders  of  the  churches  with  such  occa- 
sional assistance  as  they  were  able  to  render  one  another.  As 
respects  the  preaching  which  accompanied  this  revival,  it  is  per- 
haps sufficient  to  say  that,  generally  speaking,  it  was  "Hopkin- 
sian"  in  character.  A  fair  idea  of  its  content  may  be  gathered 
from  the  literature  of  the  period.  Along  with  the  doctrine  that 
all  sin  is  in  essence  selfishness  went  the  practical  teaching  that 
the  fundamental  duty  of  the  sinner  is  immediate  and  uncon- 
ditional submission  to  the  will  of  God.  The  earnest  enforce- 
ment of  these  doctrines  was  profoundly  effective,  and  large 
numbers  were  received  into  the  churches.  The  scenes  and  expe- 
riences of  this  religious  quickening  were  repeated  with  certain 
differences  of  manifestation  and  method  at  succeeding  inter- 
vals as  follows:  1805-11806,  1815-1818,  1820-1823,  1826-1828, 
1830-1831,  1844-1845,  1857-1859. 

It  was  noted  that  in  the  first  of  these  revivals  the  itinerant 
preacher  had  no  part,  the  work  being  wholly  under  the  conduct 
of  pastors.  In  the  revivals  that  followed  there  was  a  gradual 
return  to  the  earlier  practice  of  depending  on  the  special  talents 
of  traveling  evangelists.  Among  the  more  noted  and  successful 
of  these  special  servants  at  this  period  should  be  named  Rev. 
Asahel  Nettleton  and  Rev.  Charles  G.  Finney.  There  were 
many  others  of  lesser  fame  and  importance.  An  examination 
of  the  sermons  preached  during  the  last  of  these  revivals  makes 
it  plain  that  a  pronounced  theological  change  had  taken  place. 
The  distinctive  tenets  of  the  Hopkinsian  teaching  are  no  longer 
insisted  on  with  the  old-time  emphasis.  Less  stress  is  placed  on 
the  necessity  of  utter  self-renunciation,  as  well  as  on  the  useless- 
ness  of  all  human  effort  in  the  matter  of  attaining  unto  salva- 
tion. This  progressive  doctrinal  change  in  the  revival  preaching 
of  this  time  is  directly  traceable  to  the  theological  teaching  of 
two  of  the  most  eminent  and  influential  religious  leaders  of  that 
day  —  Rev.  Timothy  Dwight,  President  of  Yale  College  and 


THE    CONGREGATIONAL    CHURCHES         289 

Professor  of  Divinity  there,  and  Rev.  Nathaniel  W.  Taylor, 
who  became  Professor  of  Systematic  Theology  in  the  Divinity 
School  of  the  same  institution. 

In  opposition  to  the  Hopkinsian  teaching  of  the  sinfulness  of 
all  moral  action  prior  to  conversion  and  the  necessity  of  the 
sinner's  absolute  submission  of  his  case  to  the  arbitrament  of 
the  divine  will,  Dwight  sided  with  the  Old  Calvinists  and  taught 
that  it  was  the  sinner's  duty  to  try  to  help  himself,  and  that  it 
was  the  duty  of  the  minister  to  exhort  the  unregenerate  dili- 
gently to  avail  themselves  of  every  visible  means  of  grace.  There 
was  nothing  novel  in  this  teaching.  In  the  doctrinal  controver- 
sies of  the  day  it  had  found  many  able  advocates  and  defenders. 
The  new  potency  which  it  now  manifested  was  due  to  the  superior 
ability  of  Dr.  Dwight,  the  clearness  and  cogency  of  his  reasoning, 
and  the  added  weight  assigned  to  his  views  because  of  the  hon- 
orable and  influential  position  which  he  held. 

To  Dwight's  influence  in  effecting  a  gradual  theological  change 
must  be  added  the  influence  somewhat  later  of  Professor  Na- 
thaniel W.  Taylor.  Taylor's  peculiar  contribution  was  in  perfect 
harmony  with  the  body  of  Dwight's  teaching,  and,  as  in  Dwight's 
case,  was  hardly  more  than  a  reversion  to  the  Old  Calvinist  posi- 
tion. Taylor  declined  unqualified  assent  to  the  Hopkinsian 
teaching  that  sin  is  in  essence  selfishness.  So  far  from  being 
blameworthy,  he  maintained  that  self-love  was  a  legitimate 
motive  to  repentance,  and  that  a  proper  self-love  was  entirely 
consistent  with  the  Hopkinsian  theory  of  disinterested  be- 
nevolence. The  adoption  of  the  phrase  "self-love"  to  express  a 
moral  obligation  was  on  Taylor's  part  a  tactical  blunder.  It  was 
certain  to  be  misunderstood  by  persons  long  accustomed  to  the 
Hopkinsian  view  of  sin.  It  is  not  unreasonable  to  believe  that 
a  different  clothing  of  Taylor's  thought  might  have  prevented  the 
unfortunate  controversy  and  division  which  arose  over  the  "New 
Haven  Theology."  Be  this  as  it  may,  the  effect  of  the  New 
Haven  teaching  was  to  modify  in  course  of  time  the  Hopkinsian 
theology.  The  proof  of  this  appears  in  the  gradual  accommoda- 
tion of  the  revival  preaching  after  1830  to  the  New  Haven  type 
of  doctrine. 

The  evangelical  revivals  of  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, aside  from  their  immediate  effect  on  those  who  participated 
in  their  scenes  and  experienced  their  power,  left  a  permanent 


290  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

impression  on  the  organic  life  of  the  churches.  It  is  to  the  new 
warmth  of  rehgious  enthusiasm  kindled  by  this  movement  that 
the  great  missionary  enterprises,  home  and  foreign,  the  multi- 
plicity of  philanthropic  and  humanitarian  societies  so  character- 
istic of  the  present  age,  can  be  directly  traced.  The  Connecticut 
Missionary  Society  was  chartered  in  1820.  Similar  societies  were 
organized  promptly  in  Massachusetts,  New  Hampshire,  and  Ver- 
mont. Bible  and  religious  tract  societies  were  speedily  formed 
as  cooperative  evangelistic  agencies  in  the  work  of  the  home 
land.  But  the  newly  aroused  sense  of  missionary  obligation  and 
privilege  demanded  even  wider  fields  for  its  expression.  The 
year  1810  saw  the  organization  of  the  American  Board  of  Com- 
missioners for  Foreign  Missions. 

The  cause  which  led  to  the  establishment  of  home  and  foreign 
missionary  societies  led  also  to  the  founding  of  schools  in  various 
parts  of  New  England,  for  the  more  thorough  training  of  Christian 
ministers.  Whatever  the  precise  and  differing  secondary  causes 
which  gave  birth  to  our  various  theological  seminaries,  what- 
ever recognizable  differences  or  diverse  trends  of  theological 
thought  they  have  shown  or  may  continue  to  show,  it  remains 
true  that  the  common  impulse  back  of  their  creation  was  the 
revivals  of  which  mention  has  been  made. 

To  the  revivals  also  may  be  attributed  the  final  passing  of 
the  "Half-way  Covenant."  The  Half-way  system,  much  dis- 
credited but  still  generally  in  force  at  the  beginning  of  the  cen- 
tury, could  not  withstand  the  emphasis  which  the  awakenings 
placed  on  personal  religious  experience  as  a  condition  of  en- 
trance into  church-membership.  Before  the  close  of  the  third 
decade  the  system  which  for  more  than  a  century  had  been  quite 
generally  in  vogue  had  ceased  to  be. 

An  event  contemporary  with  the  founding  of  Hartford  Theo- 
logical Seminary  (Connecticut  Theological  Institute),  and  of 
very  great  significance  to  the  life  of  the  denomination  at  large, 
was  the  founding  (1834)  of  Oberlin  College  on  the  Western 
Reserve  of  Ohio.  No  other  educational  institution  has  made 
itself  more  truly  and  widely  useful  to  the  denomination  than 
Oberlin  College. 

The  tardy  spread  of  Congregationalism  westward  was  due 
to  a  feeling  which  early  obtained  and  long  persisted  that  it  was  a 
form  of  polity  ill  adapted  to  frontier  conditions.     This  lack  of 


THE    CONGREGATIONAL   CHURCHES         291 

faith  is  reflected  in  the  fact  that  the  three  oldest  missionary 
societies  organized  by  Congregationalists  were  interdenomina- 
tional in  character.  The  adoption  of  the  "Plan  of  Union"  is 
also  confirmatory  of  the  prevalence  of  this  feeling  of  self-distrust. 
Loyalty  to  the  polity  in  which  they  were  born  and  reared  was 
treated  as  a  negligible  virtue  by  clergy  and  laity  alike  after  cross- 
ing the  Hudson  River.  It  was  not  until  the  fourth  decade  of  the 
nineteenth  century  that  Congregationalism  awoke  to  any  proper 
sense  of  its  own  national  and  world-wide  mission  as  a  distinct 
polity.  This  awakening  to  corporate  and  denominational  con- 
sciousness had  its  beginning  in  the  nearer  and  more  remote 
regions  of  the  West,  in  places,  especially,  where  Congrega- 
tionalism was  brought  into  friendly  rivalry  with  other  polities. 
One  of  the  first  proofs  of  the  springing  into  life  of  a  new 
denominational  consciousness,  was  the  organization  of  state 
associations  in  regions  where  missionary  work  was  carried  on 
under  the  "Plan  of  Union."  The  New  York  State  Association 
was  organized  in  1834.  A  few  months  later,  in  northeastern 
Ohio,  there  came  into  existence  the  "Independent  Congrega- 
tional Union  of  the  Western  Reserve."  Owing  mainly  to 
theological  differences  occasioned  by  the  rise  of  the  Oberlin 
theology,  the  Congregational  forces  of  Ohio  were  not  cemented 
into  a  State  Association  until  1852.  Twelve  years  previous  to  this, 
in  1840,  the  General  Association  of  Iowa  had  been  formed.  The 
Michigan  Association  dates  from  1842;  that  of  Illinois  from 
1844;  Kansas,  1855;  California,  1857;  Indiana,  1858.  A 
casual  glance  at  the  foregoing  data  is  sufficient  to  convince  one 
that  the  home  missionary  on  the  frontier  was  the  most  potent 
factor  in  this  denominational  awakening.  The  element  of 
rivalry  which  entered  so  largely  into  the  commercial  and  indus- 
trial development  of  the  West  infused  itself,  in  some  respects 
unhealthily,  into  the  work  of  missionary  conquest.  This 
awakening,  of  course,  had  its  influence  on  the  East,  where  a  new 
sense  of  denominational  responsibility  and  importance  was 
presently  manifest.  That  this  sense  was  not  earlier  developed, 
that  its  progress  from  the  beginning  was  not  more  rapid,  was 
mainly  due  to  the  retarding  influence  of  the  "  Plan  of  Union," 
a  system  of  comity  and  cooperation  entered  into  by  Presby- 
terians and  Congregationalists,  the  results  of  which  were  in 
the  end  unsatisfactory  to  both  parties.     The  speed  with  which 


292  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

Congregationalism  unencumbered  by  the  "Plan  of  Union" 
planted  its  churches  and  schools  over  the  great  state  of  Iowa 
constitutes  an  impressive  demonstration  of  its  adaptibility  to 
frontier  conditions.  Of  its  subsequent  steady  advance  to  the 
remaining  states  and  territories  the  limits  of  this  article  will  not 
justify  even  a  general  account. 

It  appears  from  what  has  been  said  that  the  decade  beginning 
with  1830  was  of  epochal  importance  as  marking  the  general 
awakening  of  Congregationalism  to  such  a  degree  of  denomina- 
tional consciousness  as  it  had  never  before  felt.  The  new 
interest  made  itself  especially  manifest  in  the  persons  of  certain 
gifted  leaders  in  the  East,  of  whom  Dr.  Leonard  Bacon  was  per- 
haps the  most  conspicuous.  For  more  than  forty  years  pastor 
of  the  First  Church  of  New  Haven,  he  devoted  much  of  his  time 
and  thought  to  a  study  of  the  life  and  institutions  of  New  Eng- 
land. As  preacher,  author,  lecturer,  and  editor,  throughout  the 
course  of  his  intensely  busy  life,  he  did  more  than  any  other  to 
kindle  an  interest  in  New  England  Ecclesiastical  History  and  to 
inspire  a  love  for  the  polity  and  institutions  which  he  held  dear. 

It  is  important  that  some  mention  be  made  of  present-day 
movements  and  tendencies.  Throughout  their  history  American 
Congregationalists  have  been  mainly  interested  in  matters  of 
theological  belief.  Questions  of  polity  and  practical  administra- 
tion have  not  failed  to  elicit  attention,  and  at  times  to  call  forth 
earnest  discussion ;  but  as  a  rule  such  interest  has  been  neither 
deep  nor  long  sustained.  The  first  century  in  New  England 
was  somewhat  of  an  exception  to  the  history  of  Congregational- 
ism as  a  whole  in  the  intensity  and  generality  of  the  interest  taken 
in  the  subject  of  polity.  There  was  a  special  reason  for  this. 
Congregationalism  at  that  time  was  in  its  formative  stage.  But 
lately  separated  from  Episcopacy,  it  was  face  to  face  with  the 
perplexing  problem  as  to  how  it  could  best  organize  and  conduct 
itself  after  the  New  Testament  model.  The  solution  of  this 
problem  was  one  requiring  much  time  and  mutual  interchange 
of  opinion.  The  essential  results  of  the  discussion  of  these 
years,  the  solution  of  the  problem,  so  far  as  a  solution  could  be 
reached,  is  to  be  found  in  the  Cambridge  Platform  of  1648  and 
the  Saybrook  Platform  of  1708.  Following  the  adoption  of  the 
Saybrook  Platform  interest  in  polity  declined,  particularly  in 
Massachusetts  —  a  decline  which  in  that  colony  was  accom- 


THE    CONGREGATIONAL    CHURCHES         293 

panied  by  a  corresponding  decline  in  religious  interest.  Since 
the  days  of  the  Great  Awakening,  as  respects  its  inner  spiritual 
life,  Congregationalism  has  varied  greatly  at  different  times. 
As  respects  questions  of  polity  the  lack  of  interest  during  the 
same  period  has  been  almost  monotonous.  Within  the  last  few 
years  there  has  been  a  change  in  this  regard.  A  revived  interest 
in  polity  is  manifest  on  every  hand.  The  denomination  has 
apparently  awakened  to  the  belief  that  the  old  ways  are  outgrown, 
and  that  certain  changes  are  necessary  to  adapt  Congrega- 
tionalism to  the  altered  social  and  economic  conditions  of  the 
present  day.  It  may  be  generally  described  as  a  movement 
toward  centralization  of  authority  —  though  the  word  authority 
has  always  had  an  unpleasant  sound  to  Congregational  ears. 

Allusion  has  already  been  made  to  the  numerous  missionary, 
educational,  and  philanthropic  societies  which  sprang  into  being 
in  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the  fruit  of  a  new 
consciousness  of  Christian  responsibility  in  view  of  the  greatly 
enlarged  opportunities  for  mission  work  presented  by  the  ex- 
pansion and  development  of  the  great  West.  It  was  inevitable 
that  the  efforts  of  voluntary  societies,  each  eager  to  attempt  and 
do  its  full  share  of  work,  with  no  central  administrative  body 
to  advise  and  direct,  should  be  attended  with  some  rivalry ;  that 
a  waste  of  resources  should  result  through  the  duplication  of 
work;  worst  of  all,  that  through  lack  of  correlation  and  co- 
operation there  should  be  a  failure  ofttimes  to  embrace  properly 
the  opportunities  presented. 

Conscious  at  last  of  this  weakness,  and  spurred  to  action  by 
the  successes  of  more  centralized  bodies  of  Christians,  moved 
also  by  the  insistence  of  the  present  age  on  economy  and  efficiency, 
Congregationalists,  of  late,  have  deliberately  set  about  doing 
what  they  can  to  remedy  the  situation  by  effecting  a  closer  and 
more  efficient  organization. 

This  tendency  to  centralization,  which  seems  at  first  glance  a 
distinctively  present-day  movement,  is  found  on  examination  to 
be  but  the  latest  stage  of  a  development  that  has  been  going  on 
for  more  than  seventy-five  years.  Its  first  really  perceptible 
beginnings  are  traceable  in  the  creation  of  local  and  state  con- 
ferences. In  1852  and  1865  general  assemblies  of  Congrega- 
tionalists, national  in  scope,  met  for  consultation  and  cooperation 
regarding  matters  affecting  the  interests  of  the  denomination  at 


294  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

large.  A  culminating  step  in  the  progress  toward  centralization 
was  the  organization  in  187 1  of  the  National  Council,  whose  pur- 
pose, as  clearly  expressed  in  the  preamble  of  the  constitution^ 
is  "to  express  and  foster  their  substantial  unity  in  doctrine, 
polity,  and  work ;  to  consult  upon  the  common  interests  of  all  the 
churches,  their  duties  in  the  work  of  evangelization,  the  united 
development  of  their  resources,  and  their  relations  to  all  parts 
of  the  Kingdom  of  Christ"  (Walker,  Creeds,  p.  572).  The 
National  Council,  made  up  of  delegates  lay  and  ministerial, 
from  local  and  state  Associations,  and  thus  truly  representative 
of  the  entire  Congregationarl  body,  has  held  its  sessions  trien- 
nially  up  to  the  present  time.  In  the  language  of  a  late  writer, 
"  It  has  been  a  most  valuable  means  of  expressing  and  promoting 
fellowship  in  the  widely  scattered  churches  of  our  order.  It  has 
discussed  questions  vital  to  our  polity.  It  has  given  advice, 
sometimes  wise  and  sometimes  not  so  well  considered,  which, 
has  been  followed  or  not  as  it  has  commended  itself  to  the  churches. 
It  has  not  even  been  obliged  to  be  always  consistent  with  itself 
or  the  precedents  which  it  has  created.  It  has  helped  greatly  in 
the  solution  of  important  questions  and  shown  that  union  is 
possible  without  uniformity.  It  will,  in  the  future,  be  increas- 
ingly the  rally ing-place  and  unifying  power  of  the  denomination" 
(Boynton,  The  Congregational  Way,  p.  136). 

It  was  to  be  expected,  in  the  very  nature  of  things,  that  as  time 
progressed  the  National  Council  would  come  to  exercise  a  degree 
of  influence  over  the  churches  quite  in  excess  of  what  was  antici- 
pated or  intended  at  the  time  of  its  organization.  It  has  mani- 
fested at  intervals  much  concern  over  the  subject  of  Christian 
unity,  and  has  lately  attempted  to  effect  organic  union  between 
itself  and  two  other  ecclesiastical  bodies.  For  the  furtherance  of 
this  undertaking  the  triennial  meeting  at  Des  Moines,  in  1904, 
appointed  a  Committee  of  Nine  to  devise  such  modifications 
of  Congregational  polity  as  might  be  necessary  for  the  successful 
consummation  of  the  proposed  union.  This  committee  through  a 
wide  and  thorough  canvass  of  the  whole  question  of  Congrega- 
tional polity  discovered  a  firmly  established  conviction  through- 
out the  denomination  at  large,  that  for  the  sake  of  greater 
efficiency  there  should  be  a  strengthening  of  Congregational  or- 
ganization. The  report  of  the  Committee  on  Polity  makes  men- 
tion of  "the  waning  use  of  the  ecclesiastical  council,"  and  says 


THE    CONGREGATIONAL   CHURCHES  295 

that  "  its  inadequacy  to  meet  the  demands  and  needs  of  churches, 
the  languishing  condition  of  many  feeble  fields,  the  lack  of  super- 
visory care,  and  the  complex  character  of  our  agencies  and  organi- 
zations call  for  the  initiation  of  a  more  truly  representative  and 
Congregational   system   of   administration."     It   says   further: 
"Entirely  aside  from  and  independent  of  the  large  and  vital 
interests  involved  in  the  proposed  Tri-denominational  Union, 
and  resultant  of  what  our  inquiries  have  elicited  from  the  large 
body  of  our  churches,  your  committee  are  of  one  judgment  that 
our  Congregational  Churches  may  safely  and  consistently  move 
along  the  lines  of  representative  order  without   in  the  least 
imperiling  either  of  their  fundamental  principles  of  autonomy 
or  fellowship ;  and  we  unjte  in  the  conviction  that  our  Churches 
should  address  themselves  with  earnest  and  intelligent  purpose 
to  such  readjustment  of  their  order  as  shall  provide  for  a  rep- 
resentative administration  of  all  our  interests"  {Report  of  the 
Committee  on  Polity).     The  Committee  also  recommended  that 
local  assemblies  be  uniformly  designated  "associations,"  and 
state  assemblies,  "conferences";  that  ministerial  standing  be 
lodged  in  the  local  association;    "that  the  state  organizations 
become  legally  incorporated  bodies;   and  that,  under  a  general 
superintendent  and  such  boards  as  they  may  create,  and  acting 
in  cooperation  with  committees  of  local  associations  and  churches, 
they  provide  for  and  direct  the  extension  of  church  work,  the 
planting  of  churches,  the  mutual  oversight  and  care  of  all  self- 
sustaining  as  well  as  missionary  churches,  and  other  missionary 
and  church  activities,  to  the  end  that  closer  union  may  insure 
greater  efficiency  without  curtailing  local  independence;    that 
the  administration  of  the  benevolent  interests  of  our  churches 
be  directed  by  the  representatives  of  the  churches  in  the  national 
organization,  and  that  this  Council  appoint  a  commission  of 
fifteen,  including  a  representative  from  each  of  our  benevolent 
societies,  which  shall  report  at  its  next  regular  meeting  such  an 
adjustment  of  these  societies  to  the  body  of  the  churches  repre- 
sented in  this  Council  as  shall  secure  such  direction;  care  being 
taken  to  safeguard  existing  constitutional  provisions  of  those 
societies  and  the  present  membership  of  their  boards  of  control ; 
but  also  to  lodge,  hereafter,  the  creation  and  continuance  of  these 
administrative  boards  in  the  suffrage  of  the  representatives  of  the 
churches."     This  report  and  its  adoption  by  the  Council  is  an 


296  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

impressive  indication  of  the  rapid  trend  of  Congregational  polity 
toward  a  closer  and  more  centralized  organization.  Nor  is  the 
movement  confined  to  Congregationalists  as  a  denomination; 
it  is  more  or  less  prevalent  in  other  bodies  congregationally 
governed.  A  thoughtful  observation  of  tendencies  current  in  the 
large  field  of  human  affairs  v^^ill  disclose  that  it  runs  parallel  to 
a  similar  evolutionary  process  in  the  commercial,  social,  and  in- 
dustrial world.     Centralization  is,  in  fact,  a  sign  of  the  times. 

New  conditions  can  be  most  successfully  met  by  a  resort  to 
new  methods.  Old  ways  are  found  to  be  wasteful  and  ineffec- 
tive. Economy  of  resources  and  administrative  efficiency  are  the 
reforms  to  be  achieved. 

The  present-day  movement  toward  centralization  contains 
little  that  need  cause  alarm  to  the  jealous  champion  of  the 
system  he  has  hitherto  known  and  loved.  Its  fundamental 
principles  are  not  threatened.  Certain  modifications,  only,  are 
needed  to  adapt  it  more  closely  to  the  requirements  of  the 
present  age. 


THE   PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH 

Rev.  Charles  Stoddard  Lane,  A.M. 
First  Presbyterian  Church,  Mt.  Vernon,  N.Y. 

The  necessary  limits  of  this  article  determine  its  scope  and 
character.  The  life  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  for  seventy- 
five  years  has  been  too  rich  and  full  for  one  to  give  a  com- 
plete history  of  it ;  all  that  can  be  done  is  to  indicate  some  of 
the  outstanding  features  which  have  been  most  significant  and 
most  characteristic  of  the  Church's  life,  work,  and  develop- 
ment. Moreover,  this  article  concerns  itself  not  with  Presby- 
terianism  in  general,  but  only  with  that  body  which  most  of  the 
constituents  of  Hartford  Seminary  understand  when  "The 
Presbyterian  Church"  is  mentioned,  popularly  known  as  "The 
Northern  Presbyterian  Church,"  but  officially  designated  as 
"The  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America." 

When  the  foundations  of  Hartford  Seminary  were  being  laid 
at  East  Windsor  Hill,  the  Presbyterian  Church  was  on  the  eve 
of  disruption.  The  division  into  the  Old  School  and  New  School 
branches  did  not  follow  any  one  line  of  cleavage.  Different 
elements,  ecclesiastical  and  practical,  as  well  as  doctrinal, 
entered  into  it.  There  were  theological  differences,  more  or 
less  related  to  the  controversies  in  the  Congregational  body  out 
of  which  Hartford  Seminary  grew,  and  these  were  intensified 
by  the  trials  of  Barnes,  Beecher,  and  others.  But  whatever  were 
the  underlying  theological  differences,  the  acute  points  at  issue 
were  ecclesiastical  and  practical.  There  was  the  question  as  to 
the  status  of  the  Synods  and  Presbyteries  which  counted  as 
Presbyterian  the  churches  affiliated  with  them  under  the  Plan 
of  Union  with  the  Congregationalists,  though  these  churches 
were  not  fully  organized  in  the  Presbyterian  fashion.  There 
was  also  the  question  as  to  the  conduct  of  missions,  whether  it 
should  be  by  boards,  under  the  direct  control  of  the  Church 
itself,  or  in  the  looser  method  of  the  Congregationalists  through 
voluntary  societies,  independent  of  ecclesiastical  control,  like 

297 


298  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.,  with  which  the  Presbyterians  had  up  to  this 
time  cooperated. 

The  General  Assembly  of  1837,  in  Philadelphia,  adopted  what 
have  been  known  as  the  "Exscinding  Acts,"  which  expunged 
from  the  roll  of  the  Church  the  Synod  of  Western  Reserve  and 
the  Synods  of  Utica,  Geneva,  and  Genesee  in  Western  New  York, 
on  the  ground  that,  being  organized  in  accordance  with  the  Plan 
of  Union,  they  were  not  strictly  Presbyterian.  When  the  General 
Assembly  of  1838  met,  the  roll  was  made  up  without  the  repre- 
sentatives of  these  Synods,  and  they  withdrew  and  organized  the 
New  School  Branch  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Gradually 
experience  wore  away  some  of  the  points  where  there  had  been 
the  greatest  friction;  and  after  the  Civil  War,  when  the  spirit 
of  union  was  in  the  air,  the  proposal  was  made  by  the  New 
School  Assembly  for  "  correspondence  and  cooperation  and  pos- 
sibly federation."  The  proposal  was  accepted  in  a  fraternal 
spirit  by  the  Old  School  Assembly ;  and  almost  before  any  one 
realized  it,  negotiations  were  on  foot,  not  for  cooperation  or 
federation,  but  for  actual  union.  Finally,  in  1869,  the  two 
assemblies  met  in  New  York  City,  one  in  the  Brick  Church  on 
Fifth  Avenue,  and  the  other  only  two  blocks  away  in  the  Church 
of  the  Covenant,  which  has  now  by  a  singular  coincidence  be- 
come merged  in  the  Brick  Church.  Gradually  the  negotiations 
came  down  to  a  plan  of  simply  uniting  on  the  basis  of  the 
Standards,  with  no  condition  and  no  restriction,  except  that 
the  two  bodies  should  henceforth  be  one  in  the  great  Presby- 
terian Church  in  which  they  had  a  common  faith  and  a  common 
heritage.  This  union  was  consummated  at  an  adjourned 
meeting  of  the  two  assemblies  at  Pittsburgh,  November,  1869. 
The  united  church  has  since  grown  so  that  the  reports  down  to 
May,  1908,  show  that  it  has  8834  ministers,  10,140  churches, 
1,287,220  communicants,  1,137,743  Sunday-school  scholars; 
and,  for  the  year  then  ending,  contributed  for  Home  Missions 
$1,482,492,  for  Foreign  Missions  $1,158,852,  and  for  congre- 
gational expenses  $15,936,290.  This  division  and  reunion  is 
not  only  a  fact  in  the  history  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  but 
is  a  part  of  its  development. 

With  this  should  be  grouped  the  Separation  and  the  Reunion 
with  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church.  This  division  also 
was  partly  theological  and  partly  practical.     Some,  in  what  was 


THE    PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH  299 

known  as  the  Cumberland  Presbytery,  dissented  from  what 
they  regarded  as  the  extreme  Calvinism  of  the  Westminster 
Confession;  but  the  immediate  break  came  about  from  the  in- 
sistence on  the  part  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  for  a  full  theo- 
logical training  for  all  candidates  for  the  ministry,  while  these 
men  in  the  West,  face  to  face  with  the  work  that  was  springing 
"up  through  the  influence  of  the  revival  at  the  beginning  of  the 
century,  felt  the  need  of  workers  so  deeply  that  they  were  willing 
to  relax  these  requirements.  The  Synod  of  Cumberland, 
organized  in  18 13,  became  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
Church.  Nearly  one  hundred  years  later,  after  negotiations 
extending  through  several  years,  this  body,  grown  to  15 10 
ministers,  2869  churches,  and  145,411  communicants,  was 
merged  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  United  States  of 
America  and  the  union  was  ratified  by  the  General  Assembly 
at  Des  Moines,  1906.  Unfortunately  the  union  has  been  marred 
by  a  minority  of  non-assenting  members  of  the  former  Cumber- 
land Church  who  have  taken  the  matter  to  the  civil  courts. 
These  cases  are  gradually  being  settled  in  favor  of  the  union; 
and,  in  spite  of  all,  it  stands  as  the  great  union  movement  of  the 
opening  years  of  the  twentieth  century.  While  others  have 
talked  union,  the  Presbyterian  Church  has  put  it  into  effect. 

The  division  into  the  Northern  and  Southern  Churches  which 
accompanied  the  bitterness  of  the  Civil  War  has  not  yet  been 
healed,  but  fraternal  words  are  passing  between  the  Churches 
with  increasing  frequency  and  cordiality;  and  there  are  not 
wanting  those  in  both  who  prophesy  that  two  Churches 
having  a  common  faith  and  a  common  ecclesiastical  system  will 
not  much  longer  remain  divided  over  issues  that  have  long 
since  been  settled,  and  that  have  not  kept  the  opposing  sections 
of  the  country  from  coming  together  in  common  loyalty  to  the 
flag. 

As  a  part  of  this  development  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  its 
relations  to  other  bodies  there  must  be  noted  also  its  part  in  the 
Alliance  of  the  Reformed  Churches  throughout  the  world  hold- 
ing the  Presbyterian  system.  This  Alliance  was  organized  in 
London,  1875,  ^.nd  now  includes  representatives  of  S^  Presby- 
terian bodies  having  a  membership  of  5,137,328.  The  purpose 
of  the  Alliance  is  "to  confer  on  matters  of  common  interest  and  to 
further  the  ends  for  which  the  Church  was  constituted."     The 


300  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

Presbyterian  Church  has  also  had  active  and  leading  part  in  the 
formation  of  the  Federation  of  Churches,  the  plan  for  which 
was  formulated  by  the  conference  held  in  New  York  City,  No- 
vember, 1905.  Along  with  this  has  been  the  organization  on  the 
mission  field,  in  Mexico,  Brazil,  India,  China,  and  Korea,  of 
independent  Presbyterian  Churches  as  separate  ecclesiastical 
bodies,  and  in  Japan,  the  Union  Church  of  Christ.  Thus  the 
Presbyterian  Church  has  so  far  measured  up  to  the  idea  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  that  it  has  crossed  all  national  boundaries,  all 
limits  of  race  or  country,  and  made  a  home  for  itself  in  the  hearts 
of  all  classes  and  conditions  of  men ;  all  shades  of  color  and  of 
thought  sit  together  as  brethren  of  the  Lord,  parts  of  one  great 
denominational  brotherhood. 

There  has  been  also  a  development  of  doctrine.  The  Presby- 
terian Church  has  not  changed  its  faith,  though  it  has  revised  its 
Confession  of  Faith.  The  attempt  at  revision  begun  in  1889 
was  rejected  by  the  Presbyteries  in  1893,  those  who  thought  the 
proposed  changes  went  too  far  and  those  who  thought  they  did 
not  go  far  enough  voting  together  against  them.  A  new  attempt 
began  in  1900,  and  the  General  Assembly  at  Philadelphia,  in 
1 901,  appointed  a  committee  of  which  the  Moderator,  Rev. 
H.  C.  Minton,  D.D.,  was  made  chairman.  This  committee  was 
instructed  to  prepare  amendments  of  certain  chapters  "either 
by  modification  of  the  text,  or  by  declaratory  statements  so  as 
more  clearly  to  express  the  mind  of  the  Church,  with  additional 
statements  regarding  the  love  of  God  for  all  men.  Missions,  and 
the  Holy  Spirit;  it  being  understood  that  the  revision  is  in  no 
way  to  impair  the  integrity  of  the  system  of  doctrine  set  forth 
in  the  Confession  and  taught  in  the  Holy  Scriptures."  Their 
report  was  accepted  by  the  Presbyteries  with  few  dissenting 
votes  and  was  declared  adopted  by  the  General  Assembly  at 
Los  Angeles  in  1903.  The  Assembly  of  1902  adopted  a  so- 
called  Brief  Statement  of  the  Reformed  Faith  which  was  intended 
for  popular  use,  not  as  a  substitute  for  the  Confession,  but  for 
instruction.  Never  having  been  sent  to  the  presbyteries  for 
their  approval,  it  is  not  a  part  of  the  constitutional  standards  of 
the  Church.  An  interesting  question  arises  as  to  the  status  of  a 
minister  or  elder  who  expresses  himself  as  willing  to  subscribe 
to  this  Brief  Statement,  but  not  to  the  Westminster  Confession, 
even  as  revised.     He  accepts  what  the  Church  declares  to  be  its 


THE    PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH  301 

faith,  but  refuses  to  assent  to  the  official  statement  of  the  faith 
of  the  Church  of  which  this  Brief  Statement  is  officially  declared 
to  be  the  interpretation.  Still  further,  the  General  Assembly  at 
Kansas  City  in  1908  appointed  a  committee  to  prepare  a  new 
catechism  to  aid  in  the  training  of  the  young,  put  in  more 
modern  terms  and  framed  in  more  modern  fashion  than  the 
Westminster  Catechisms.  There  is  no  thought,  however,  of 
making  this  proposed  catechism  a  part  of  the  standards  of  the 
Church. 

Perhaps  it  is  fair  to  say  that  organization  is  the  key-word  of 
the  period,  the  most  distinguishing  characteristic  of  the  de- 
velopment of  the  Church.  The  matters  already  noted,  the 
union  movements  in  which  the  Presbyterian  Church  has  come 
into  relation  with  other  bodies,  and  the  development  of  doctrine 
in  the  revision  of  the  Confession,  may  be  considered  under  this 
head;  but  chiefly  this  development  of  organization  has  been 
ecclesiastical  and  practical.  The  General  Assembly  has  grown 
with  the  addition  of  the  representatives  of  the  former  Cumber- 
land Presbyteries  to  be  a  body  of  nearly  1000  members  and 
measures  must  soon  be  taken  to  reduce  this  membership,  if  the 
Assembly  is  to  be  in  any  sense  a  deliberative  body,  able  to  con- 
sider the  business  of  the  Church  in  an  intelligent  and  orderly 
fashion.  Development  of  organization  appears  in  the  increased 
powers  of  the  Stated  Clerk  of  the  Assembly  through  the  great 
number  of  matters  referred  to  him;  the  multiplication  of  com- 
mittees holding  over  from  one  Assembly  to  the  next;  the  ap- 
pointment of  commissions  by  which  judicial  cases  are  tried; 
the  limitation  of  appeal  to  Synod,  except  in  cases  involving 
doctrine;  the  elaboration  of  the  Book  of  Discipline.  The 
General  Assembly  of  1908  has  also  appointed  for  the  first  time, 
under  the  authorization  of  the  Presbyteries,  an  Executive  Com- 
mission, from  which  all  members  or  officers  of  the  Boards  of  the 
Church  are  excluded,  and  which  is  to  hold  office  permanently, 
representing  the  Assembly  between  its  sessions,  and  attending 
to  matters  committed  to  it  by  the  Assembly.  The  Commission 
thus  appointed  this  year  is  to  consider  the  relations  of  the  Boards 
and  to  prepare  a  single  budget,  to  be  presented  to  the  churches, 
covering  their  whole  missionary  and  benevolent  work. 

But  more  important  still  is  the  development  of  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Church  practically  for  the  accomplishment  of  the 


302  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

actual  work  of  the  Redeemer's  Kingdom  for  which  the  Church 
exists.  The  practical  element  is  always  strong  among  Presby- 
terians. It  is  said  that,  when  Presbyterians  divide,  it  is  on 
questions  of  policy  and  administration,  on  practical  rather  than 
speculative  issues.  At  the  Reunion  of  Old  School  and  New 
School  in  1869  the  united  Assembly  declared  that  "in  this  union 
are  seen  the  outflashings  of  a  divine  purpose  to  lead  us  on  to 
greater  self-sacrifice  and  more  entire  consecration  to  the  evangeli- 
zation of  the  world."  The  leading  representatives  of  the  Cum- 
berland Church  declared  that  union  was  sought  for  the  sake  of 
efficiency,  that  together  they  might  do  more  of  the  work  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God.  The  same  spirit  appears  in  the  section  added 
to  the  Confession  "On  Missions"  and  in  the  concluding  section 
of  the  Brief  Statement  "Of  Christian  Service."  The  Board 
of  Home  Missions  and  the  Board  of  Education  antedate  the 
period  before  us,  but  these  seventy-five  years  have  seen  the 
organization  of  the  other  Boards  of  the  Church,  carrying  on  their 
important  and  enlarging  work:  Church  Erection,  Freedmen, 
Sabbath-School,  Ministerial  Relief,  Colleges. 

The  life  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  almost  corresponds 
with  our  seventy-five  years,  the  Board  having  just  presented 
its  seventy-first  report  to  the  Assembly  of  1908.  If  missions 
are  the  business  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  then  there  is  no  part  of 
the  development  of  the  Church  more  important  or  more  in- 
teresting than  the  organization  and  prosecution  of  the  work  of 
missions.  The  mission  work  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  began  in 
1 741  when  Azariah  Horton,  a  member  of  the  Presbytery  of  New 
York,  was  appointed  to  work  among  the  Indians  of  Long  Island. 
David  Brainerd,  ordained  by  the  Presbytery  of  New  York  in 
1744,  was  the  second.  In  1817  the  United  Foreign  Missionary 
Society  was  formed,  consisting  of  the  "Presbyterian,  Reformed 
Dutch,  and  Associate  Reformed  Churches,  and  all  others  who 
may  choose  to  join  them."  The  Synod  of  Pittsburgh  organized 
itself  in  1802  as  the  Western  Missionary  Society;  and  when  the 
United  Foreign  Missionary  Society  was  absorbed  by  the  A.  B.  C. 
F.  M.,  the  Synod  of  Pittsburgh  organized,  in  183 1,  the  Western 
Foreign  Missionary  Society,  with  the  declared  purpose  of  recog- 
nizing "the  Church  in  her  very  organization  as  a  society  for 
missions  to  the  heathen."  The  present  Board  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions was  established  by  the  Assembly  in  1837.     It  is  evident 


THE    PRESBYTERIAN   CHURCH  303 

that,  whatever  development  or  advance  has  been  made  in  the 
line  of  organization  and  machinery,  the  spirit  of  devotion  to  the 
cause  was  present  and  powerful  in  the  Church  three  quarters 
of  a  century  ago.  The  work  carried  on  by  the  Presbyterian 
Church  through  this  Board  has  not  been  surpassed  by  that  of 
any  Church  in  its  extent,  its  ability,  its  results,  or  in  the  charac- 
ter of  the  men  who  have  been  devoted  to  it  on  the  field  or  in  the 
administration  at  home.  It  has  been  marked  by  an  emphasis 
on  education,  on  philanthropic  and  humanitarian  work,  and  by 
the  development  of  self-sustaining  churches  on  the  mission 
field.  The  Board  now  reports  889  missionaries,  139  stations, 
3129  native  workers,  70,447  communicants,  with  11,106  added 
during  the  year. 

The  Board  of  Home  Missions,  organized  in  1816  to  continue 
the  work  of  the  Committee  on  Domestic  Missions  appointed  in 
1802,  has  been  steadily  enlarging  its  work  throughout  these 
seventy-five  years  to  meet  the  growing  demands  of  the  growing 
field.  It  tries  not  only  to  bring  the  Gospel  to  those  in  the  older 
or  the  newer  portions  of  the  land  who  might  not  be  able  to  main- 
tain churches  themselves,  but  also  to  reach  special  classes  such  as 
the  Southern  Mountaineers,  the  Mexicans,  Indians,  Mormons, 
and  the  natives  of  Porto  Rico,  Panama,  and  Alaska.  In  recent 
years  it  has  sought  to  meet  the  social  and  economic  conditions 
of  the  time  through  special  departments  of  Church  and  Labor, 
and  Immigration. 

Coincident  with  this  development  of  missions,  and  contribut- 
ing to  it,  has  been  the  increased  activity  of  women.  The  first 
distinct  organization  of  women,  the  Women's  Foreign  Mis- 
sonary  Society,  was  founded  in  1870,  and  its  contributions  have 
amounted  to  nearly  $5,000,000. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  is  called  conservative,  but  its  con- 
servatism is  not  stolid  stagnation.  The  records  show  that  it  is 
a  living  body,  strong,  vigorous,  growing,  alive  with  the  life  of 
Christ  at  its  heart.  It  is  ever  seeking  and  discerning  new  lines 
of  progress  on  the  old  lines  of  truth,  bringing  the  eternal  Gospel 
to  bear  more  and  more  closely  on  the  men  and  the  conditions  of 
the  present. 


THE   METHODIST   EPISCOPAL   CHURCH 

Rev.  Warren  French  Sheldon,  B.D. 
Methodist  Episcopai,  Church,  Simsbury,  Conn. 

Seventy-five  years  is  a  long  period  in  the  history  of  Metho- 
dism, covering  as  it  does  about  three  sevenths  of  all  the  years 
since  Wesley  began  his  unique  work  in  1739,  and  about  three- 
fifths  of  the  years  since  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  now 
the  leading  body  among  "the  people  called  Methodists,"  was 
organized  at  Baltimore  in  1784. 

For  about  fifty  years  before  1784  in  England,  and  for  about 
twenty  years  in  America,  the  Methodist  societies  had  been  un- 
ojfficial  home-missionary  societies  under  the  personal  supervision 
of  John  Wesley.  Their  energies  were  especially  directed  to  the 
vast  multitudes  of  unevangelized  or  unchristianized  poor  people 
under  English  dominion. 

In  America  the  rapid  spread  of  the  settlers  westward  kept  the 
Methodist  preachers,  with  their  instinct  and  commission  for  the 
neglected  and  needy  places,  for  the  most  part  in  the  saddle. 
For  a  number  of  generations  most  of  these  preachers  worked 
themselves  to  death  in  less  than  ten  years.  Francis  Asbury, 
the  apostle  of  Methodism  in  America,  endured  the  strain  for 
forty-five  years,  rising  from  a  sick-bed  hundreds  and  perhaps 
thousands  of  times  to  travel  or  preach.  He  preached  over 
16,000  sermons,  traveled  more  than  270,000  miles,  and  ordained 
upwards  of  4000  preachers.  No  other  one  man  has  accom- 
plished such  a  life's  work  for  the  Christianity  of  this  continent. 

Methodism  paid  little  heed  to  New  England  during  the  early 
decades,  because  there  was  little  need  of  evangelization  in  that 
quarter.  New  England,  however,  did  need  a  gospel  "whose 
arms  of  love  would  all  mankind  embrace,"  and  in  due  time 
Methodism  contributed  her  portion  toward  the  supplying  of 
this  need. 

The  home-missionary  character  of  the  Methodist  societies 
long  continued,  even  after  the  formal  organization  of  the  Church 

304 


THE   METHODIST   EPISCOPAL   CHURCH      305 

in  1784,  and  continues  to  be  more  or  less  prominent  even  unto 
this  day.  1820  is  reckoned  by  historians  as  the  year  when  the 
general  organization  became  complete.  This  completeness,  how- 
ever, was  more  theoretical  than  practical,  and  1834  would  be 
nearer  the  real  transition  date  from  the  earlier  conditions  to  the 
new.  The  period  before  1834  was  the  time  of  the  unschooled 
preacher  par  excellence,  and  there  were  giants  in  those  days. 
Trained  clergymen  simply  would  not  attempt  such  rigorous 
work  in  any  considerable  numbers,  and  there  were  not  enough 
of  them  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  situation,  even  if  they  had  all 
been  eager  to  meet  it. 

The  growth  of  the  Church  by  18 12  made  it  necessary  that  the 
quadrennial  meeting  of  the  General  Conference,  the  governing 
body  of  the  Church,  should  be  a  delegated  body.  The  various 
auxiliary  institutions  for  education,  missions,  Sunday-schools, 
and  printing  were  in  existence,  or  in  sight,  by  1820. 

In  1816  a  systematic  course  of  conference  studies  for  preachers 
was  established.  Cokesbury  College  was  established  in  Mary- 
land in  1787,  but  the  attempt  was  premature.  The  financial  re- 
sources of  the  people  were  hardly  sufficient  for  the  maintenance 
of  their  rapidly  multiplying  infant  churches,  to  say  nothing  of 
colleges  and  other  institutions.  But  the  instinct  for  education 
and  culture  was  not  less  vital  and  virile  in  Methodism  than 
that  for  evangelization.  The  next  extended  formal  effort  was 
for  the  foundation  of  a  system  of  academies  or  secondary  schools, 
which  began  with  vigor  in  1816.  As  a  result,  before  1830 
Wilbraham,  Kent's  Hill,  and  Cazenovia  Academies  were  well 
established,  and  in  183 1  Wesleyan  University  was  chartered 
and  opened  with  an  endowment  of  $20,000.  It  was  eight 
years  more  before  the  theological  school  which  later  became  a 
department  of  Boston  University  was  founded. 

During  the  decade  ending  with  1834  "The  Sunday-school 
Union"  was  organized,  and  the  system  of  Church  periodicals, 
which  has  played  a  large  part  in  the  development  of  the  Church, 
was  established.  The  decade  beginning  with  1834  saw  the  com- 
plete unification  of  several  missionary  societies,  which  had  existed 
more  or  less  irregularly  from  the  beginning,  with  the  formal 
central  parent  society  which,  thanks  to  Nathan  Bangs,  was 
organized  in  18 19. 

These  two  decades  saw  also  two  serious  schisms.     In  1828 


3o6  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

the  Methodist  Protestants  broke  away  because  lay  representa- 
tion had  been  refused  by  the  General  Conference.  This  refusal 
was  partly  remedied  in  1872,  and  wholly  so  in  1900,  when  equal 
lay  and  ministerial  representation  became  the  law. 

In  1844  the  question  of  slavery  fairly  split  the  Church.  This 
question  no  longer  agitates.  The  two  great  divisions  of  Episco- 
pal Methodism  have  now  a  common  hymnal  and  order  of  service. 
Most  encouraging  overtures  in  temper  and  in  letter  have  been 
exchanged  in  recent  months  between  these  two  great  bodies  and 
the  Methodist  Protestants.  Whether  a  Methodist  Tri-union  is 
to  occur  in  the  future  we  cannot  foresee. 

As  to  the  present  outlook  a  few  remarks  must  suffice.  It  is 
fair  to  characterize  the  history  of  Methodism  before  1834  as  a 
period  of  emphasis  on  aggressive  evangelism;  growth  in  that 
period  was  extensive,  though  the  beginnings  of  intensive  culture 
and  perfection  of  organism  were  made.  If  we  regard  the  period 
since  1834  as  one  of  emphasis  upon  intensive  development,  we 
must  remember  also  that  the  growth  of  the  Church  extensively 
has  been  even  more  rapid  than  in  the  earlier  time.  In  view 
of  these  two  kinds  of  growth,  and  the  rapidity  of  the  extensive 
one,  it  seems  necessary  to  conclude  that  Methodism  as  an  in- 
stitution is  yet  in  its  infancy. 

From  the  beginning,  this  Church  has  been  a  source  of  energy, 
and  many  minor  sects  have  sprung  from  the  original  impetus. 
For  some  decades  there  has  been  a  growing  tendency  toward 
consolidation.  Three  Ecumenical  Conferences  have  been  held 
at  intervals  of  ten  years,  alternating  between  England  and 
America.  The  fourth  of  these  conferences  will  be  due  in  19 11. 
Several  minor  bodies  have  united  in  England,  and  there  has  come 
to  be  one  Methodism  in  Ireland,  one  in  Canada,  one  in  New 
Zealand,  one  in  Australia,  and  one  in  Japan.  This  last  is  a 
notable  example  not  only  of  progress  in  foreign  lands  but  also  of 
comity  at  home. 

At  first  there  was  no  time-limit  for  the  pastoral  term,  but  the 
exigencies  of  the  case  made  rotation  rapid.  A  favored  few 
inevitably  were  desired  by  the  stronger  churches,  and  the  ram- 
pant spirit  of  democracy  in  1804  fixed  an  arbitrary  limit  for 
the  pastoral  term  at  two  years.  In  1864  this  was  extended  to 
three  years  and  in  1888  to  five.  In  1900  the  limit  was  removed, 
and  it  is  devoutly  to  be  hoped  that  this  "  is  the  end  of  the  limit." 


THE   METHODIST   EPISCOPAL   CHURCH      307 

There  is  a  growing  demand  for  a  diocesan  bishopric.  Our 
general  superintendents,  or  bishops,  now  "  travel  at  large  through 
the  Connection,"  and  are  required  to  do  so  by  our  fundamental 
law.  Whether  the  development  of  powerful  centers  and  special 
problems  will  force  a  settled  superintendency  upon  the  Church 
is,  as  yet,  an  open  question. 

The  chief  glory  of  Methodism  from  the  beginning  until  the 
present  time  has  been  that  within  her  walls  the  poor  have  the 
Gospel  preached  to  them.  She  has  made  marked  progress 
along  educational  lines  at  home  and  abroad.  American  Metho- 
dism alone  fosters  over  seventy  colleges,  nearly  two  hundred 
secondary  schools,  and  a  dozen  theological  seminaries,  at  least 
three  of  which  are  of  special  importance.  In  some  sections  her 
people  have  grown  rich  or  substantially  well-to-do;  nevertheless, 
there  are  very  few  Methodist  churches  which  have  a  "working- 
man's"  problem.  Men  who  are  or  have  been  manual  laborers, 
in  considerable  numbers,  are  to  be  found  among  her  active 
workers,  both  lay  and  clerical.  It  is  significant,  also,  that  the 
Church  which  founded  its  first  successful  college  less  than  eighty 
years  ago,  with  a  scant  endowment  of  $20,000,  entered  the 
twentieth  century  with  a  "thank  offering"  of  over  $20,000,000, 
while  the  offerings  of  other  Methodist  bodies  at  the  same  time 
were  sufficient  to  make  a  world  total  approaching  $30,000,000. 


THE   BAPTIST   CHURCHES 

Rev.  George  Marvin  Stone,  D.D. 
Hartford,  Conn. 

The  history  of  the  Baptist  denomination,  in  the  period 
covered  by  the  seventy-five  years  now  closing,  has  been 
noted  for  significant  changes  within  the  body  itself,  and 
corresponding  modifications  in  its  recognized  place  among  the 
fraternal  organizations  of  Protestantism.  In  this  period  it  has 
come  to  a  new  consciousness  of  itself,  and  has  thus  entered  upon 
new  measures  of  self-respecting  dignity  in  service  and  an  en- 
larged sense  of  its  fundamental  and  necessary  place  in  the 
brotherhood  of  Christian  Churches.  The  breadth  and  compass 
of  our  work,  as  an  organized  body  of  believers  pledged  to  empha- 
size neglected  truths  in  the  primitive  heritage  of  truth,  has  been 
disclosed  as  never  before  in  the  modern  period. 

1.  Position  on  Baptism.  —  Our  position  respecting  the  initial 
rite  of  admission  to  the  church  during  the  period  under  review 
has  been  confirmed  by  the  scholarship  of  leading  teachers  in 
the  universities  of  Europe  and  America.  For  reasons  of  eloquent 
symbolism,  as  well  as  for  the  truth's  sake,  we  owe  a  firm  and  un- 
wavering testimony  respecting  baptism  to  our  fellow-Christians. 

2.  Position  on  the  Bible.  —  It  has  been  our  misfortune  to  be 
misunderstood  with  reference  to  the  matter  of  baptism.  The  mod- 
ern Baptist  registers  the  extent  of  his  advance  from  the  position  of 
his  fathers  by  his  refusal  to  be  considered  simply  as  the  apologist 
for  the  primitive  mode  of  baptism.  He  recognizes  a  definite  cleav- 
age between  the  revealed  will  of  God,  as  authority  in  all  matters 
of  belief,  and  the  uncertain  testimony  of  tradition.  Our  main 
position  to-day  involves  the  adoption  of  the  Bible  as  the  exclu- 
sive authority  in  matters  of  belief  and  life.  Other  Christian 
organizations  accept  the  Bible.  The  Baptist  does  more.  He 
accepts  it  alone,  to  the  absolute  exclusion  of  other  sources  of 
authority.  He  will  allow  no  other  stream  to  color  the  water 
which  flows  from   this   original  divine  fountain.     We  do  not 

308 


THE   BAPTIST   CHURCHES  309 

ignore  the  lessons  of  Church  history,  in  the  interval  between 
the  time  of  the  planting  of  the  Christian  Church  and  the  present. 
We  fail  to  find,  however,  any  reliable  "consensus  of  faith" 
in  the  corrupted  and  tortuous  stream  of  tradition.  The  opinions 
of  the  Fathers  are  not  harmonious;  the  decrees  of  councils  are 
contradictory.  Hence  the  Bible  must  judge  both.  Says  Dr. 
Francis  Wayland:  "To  a  Baptist,  all  appeals  to  the  Fathers, 
or  to  antiquity,  or  general  practice,  in  the  early  centuries  or  in 
later  times,  are  irrelevant  and  frivolous."  He  asks  for  divine 
authority  as  his  guide  in  all  matters  of  religion,  and  if  this  be 
not  produced,  his  answer  is,  "In  vain  do  ye  worship  God,  teach- 
ing for  doctrines  the  commandments  of  men."  Our  quest  for 
the  unity  of  faith  is  more  successful  when  we  look  for  it  among 
the  obscure  and  despised  "  reformers  before  the  Reformation," 
like  the  "poor  men  of  Lyons,"  than  when  we  turn  to  the  great 
hierarchy  whose  shadow  darkens  so  much  of  the  history  of  the 
Christian  centuries.  But  even  "these  hidden  ones  of  faith" 
must  be  tested  by  Holy  Scripture. 

In  our  position  with  reference  to  the  supremacy  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, of  course  we  are  brought  into  direct  issue  with  the  Roman- 
ist. He  affirms  unequivocally  that  the  Scriptures  "are  not  the 
sole  standard,  and  that  God  gives  to  the  world  from  time  to 
time,  through  Popes  and  Councils,  new  communications  of 
truth."  The  accretions  which  the  Roman  Church  had  allowed 
to  gather  about  the  original  body  of  revealed  truth,  became  in 
the  sixteenth  century  so  offensive  to  the  common  moral  judg- 
ment of  mankind  that  Luther's  manly  protest  initiated  a  Refor- 
mation which  changed  the  moral  aspect  of  Europe,  and  whose 
momentum  survives  with  cumulative  power  to-day.  But  that 
Reformation  is  not  concluded.  Beliefs  and  practices  linger  in 
Protestant  churches  which  rest  upon  tradition  alone.  The 
Baptist  rejects  any  and  all  of  these.  His  position  is  easily  un- 
derstood. He  gives  hospitality  to  every  truth  of  Scripture. 
He  challenges  whatever  cannot  trace  its  origin  to  this  source. 
Archbishop  Hughes,  the  astute  Roman  prelate  of  New  York, 
said  to  a  Presbyterian  minister,  "We  have  no  controversy  with 
you;  our  controversy  is  with  the  Baptists."  The  Baptist  is 
pledged,  as  far  as  in  him  lies,  to  prosecute  the  work  of  the  Ref- 
ormation, until  the  Church  shall  return  to  the  simple  forms 
it  possessed  under  the  Apostles  chosen  by  our  Lord  Himself.     In 


3IO  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

the  entire  course  of  revelation,  we  trace  a  noteworthy  connection 
between  ethics  and  the  keeping  of  specific  commandments. 
The  law  given  by  Moses  was  hedged  about  with  sanctions  of 
immeasurable  gravity.  If  law  without  penalty  is  merely  good 
advice,  and  powerless  to  insure  obedience,  the  Old  Testament 
law  came  with  golden  bribes  for  the  obedient  in  one  hand,  and 
in  the  other  definite  and  inevitable  retributions  for  the  dis- 
obedient. 

3.  Foreign  and  Home  Missions.  —  Certain  providential 
events  occurring  in  the  first  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century 
affected  in  a  very  great  degree  the  growth  of  the  denomination 
in  the  succeeding  years  of  that  century.  The  change  of  views 
on  the  part  of  Dr.  Adoniram  Judson,  in  181 2,  respecting  baptism, 
and  his  subsequent  identification  with  the  newly-formed  Ameri- 
can Baptist  Missionary  Union,  gave  a  powerful  impetus  to  the 
cause  of  missions  among  us.  The  impulse,  lasting  unto  the 
present  time,  has  borne  abundant  fruit  in  the  establishment  of 
prosperous  mission  stations  over  large  areas  of  the  heathen 
world.  We  are  by  definite  character  a  missionary  people. 
The  quickened  heart  of  our  widespread  churches  responds 
ever  to  the  appeal  unceasingly  made  to  it  in  behalf  of  the  dark- 
ened races  of  men.  From  the  ranks  of  our  membership  every 
year  men  and  women  press  forward  to  serve  in  the  places  of 
those  falling  in  the  foreign  field. 

The  unparalleled  expansion  of  our  territorial  area  has  been  an 
effective  stimulus  to  the  home-mission  spirit  among  us.  In  the 
valley  of  the  Mississippi,  by  the  edge  and  in  the  centers  of  almost 
illimitable  and  fertile  prairies,  churches  have  risen  as  if  by 
magic,  and  countless  communities  of  men  and  women  friendly 
to  our  New  Testament  conceptions  now  worship  with  joyous 
freedom  of  spirit.  The  names  of  the  early  home  missionaries, 
the  noble  pathfinders  of  our  faith,  are  cherished  with  liveliest 
gratitude.  John  M.  Peck  and  his  co-workers  on  the  home  field 
are  held  in  equal  honor  with  Judson,  Wade,  and  Vinton,  who 
wrought  unto  death  on  foreign  fields. 

4.  Preaching  and  Evangelism.  —  During  seventy-five  years 
now  closing,  the  pulpit  standards  of  our  people  have  manifestly 
shown  great  improvement,  without  serious  detriment  to  the 
evangelical  tone  of  our  pastors.  Our  people  hunger  for  "the 
holy  bread  of  preaching."    Many  of  our  pastors  are  practically 


THE   BAPTIST    CHURCHES 


311 


evangelists,  with  the  ability  and  disposition  to  serve  their  brethren 
in  extra  religious  meetings,  and  to  act  as  counselors  in  times  of 
unusual  religious  interest.  Such  times  form  part  of  the  habitual 
expectation  of  the  majority  of  our  churches.  The  settled  order 
of  our  organic  church  life  is  thus  reciprocally  cooperative  with 
the  free  spirit  of  evangelism.  The  conservative  body  is  thus 
kept  from  stagnation,  and  on  the  other  side,  the  outgoing  interest 
for  salvation  beyond  it  is  moderated  and  chastened  by, the  per- 
manent and  compact  forms  of  the  church.  We  have  been 
largely  and  enthusiastically  responsive  to  the  wave  of  recent 
interest  in  the  study  of  the  Bible.  The  old  designation  of  the 
Sunday-school  has  given  way  to  the  Bible-school,  and  the  area 
of  instruction  has  widened  to  include  all  ages  and  conditions  as 
pupils.  There  is  a  growing  tendency  to  bring  under  habitual 
instruction  in  the  best  elements  of  Biblical  knowledge  every 
member  of  our  churches.  The  stimulus  of  the  "new  education" 
in  secular  institutions  is  reacting  as  a  definite  inspiration  upon 
spiritual  instruction  in  the  church,  and  is  already  raising  up 
teachers  with  ample  equipment,  to  put  the  methods  of  church 
instruction  on  a  level  with  the  highest  methods  of  the  college 
and  seminary. 

5.  New  Molds  of  Doctrine. —  Our  people  have  never  lacked 
leaders  of  insight  and  breadth  who  have  recognized  the  neces- 
sity of  new  statements  of  vital  truths,  to  meet  the  new  intellectual 
wants  of  growing  minds  and  expanding  souls.  Says  a  wise,  dis- 
criminating writer,  one  of  these  leaders,  "We  are  impelled  to 
statements,  as  a  means  of  getting  possession  of  truth.  But  all 
statement  is  necessarily  partial  and  imperfect  for  the  reason  that 
there  is  an  endless  progress  for  the  soul,  and  the  infinitude  of 
truth  is  God's  provision  for  that  endless  progress."  We  have 
welcomed  those  new  molds  of  doctrine  which,  instead  of  reducing 
the  natural  force  and  emphasis  put  upon  the  deity  of  Christ 
and  the  exhaustless  efficacy  of  His  atoning  deed,  have  added 
clearness  and  amplitude  to  both  these  pillar-teachings  of  inspira- 
tion. It  has  surprised  some  of  our  more  conservative  constit- 
uency to  discover  the  large  margins  in  the  old  doctrines  for 
every  new  discovery  in  science  or  philosophy,  even  as  Aaron's 
rod  in  the  court  of  Pharaoh  swallowed  up  all  the  rods  of  the  wise 
men  of  Egypt.  The  revealed  Word  of  God  is  yet  in  advance  of 
men's  best  and  widest  thought,  and  in  the  gathering  light  shed 


312  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

upon  it  by  the  ever-working  Holy  Spirit  we  look  for  the  bread 
of  life  to  feed  the  enlarged  minds  of  believers  until  He  come, 
whose  right  it  is  to  reign. 

6.  The  Educational  Advance.  —  In  the  planting  and  endow- 
ment of  schools  and  colleges  of  various  grades,  the  years  under 
review  disclose  remarkable  progress.  While  this  has  been  due 
in  part  to  the  pressing  needs  of  new  and  inviting  fields  in  the 
middle  and  remoter  West,  it  also  reveals  a  quickened  and  per- 
vasive sense  in  the  very  heart  of  the  denomination  respecting 
the  elemental  facts  of  liberal  education.  The  large  and  constant 
outlay  of  money,  and  the  development  of  new  gifts  among  us 
in  the  faculties  of  our  growing  institutions,  indicate  a  position 
in  these  respects  quite  abreast  of  the  ripest  thought  of  the  age. 
While  we  have  in  the  focal  light  of  the  new  day  only  renewed 
confidence  in  the  integrity  of  all  portions  of  the  Bible,  we  welcome 
the  Christ ocentric  tendency  of  modem  scholarship  and  give 
warm  recognition  to  the  movement  to  assign  our  sacred  books 
to  a  conspicuous  place  in  the  study  of  literature.  The  features 
of  our  polity  are  such  that  we  have  everything  to  hope  from  the 
most  thorough-going  and  many-sided  investigation  of  the  liter- 
ary basis  of  our  faith.  If  there  have  been  instances  of  painful 
defection  from  the  main  bulwarks  of  our  faith,  we  have  not 
become  aware  of  a  large  following  into  untried  paths,  or  a  large 
preference  for  the  new  because  of  its  novelty.  And  yet  the 
instructed  scribe  is  honored  who  brings  forth  out  of  his  sacred 
treasure  things  new  and  old. 

7.  Attitude  toward  Socialism.  —  Our  people  recognize  a 
distinctive  and  imperative  socialism  in  the  teaching  of  Christ. 
The  constituency  of  our  churches  is  very  considerably  found  in 
the  ranks  of  labor.  It  would  be  impossible  for  us  to  ignore  the 
burning  questions  which  emerge  in  our  time,  respecting  rights 
and  duties  as  between  the  world's  work  and  the  world's  wealth. 
The  solvent  of  the  complexities  created  in  our  day  is  the  spirit 
of  Christ  ruling  in  the  heart  of  the  worker  as  well  as  in  that  of 
the  employer.  Hence  our  pulpits  give  a  cordial  acceptance  to 
themes  which  discuss  the  rights  of  labor.  We  heed  the  bitter 
cry  of  children  wronged  by  mercenary  capital,  and  insist  upon 
the  stewardship  conception  of  wealth  so  clearly  stated  in  the 
New  Testament.  While  much  remains  to  be  won  from  the 
possessors  of  large  estate  among  us,  we  recognize  in  a  goodly 


THE    BAPTIST    CHURCHES  313 

number  the  disposition  practically  to  hold  money  as  a  trust  for 
the  public  good. 

8.  The  Outlook.  —  Our  place  has  changed  from  one  of  reluc- 
tant toleration  to  one  of  hearty  approval  and  intelligent  valua- 
tion. We  are  Protestants  among  Protestants.  On  the  firing 
line  we  keep  our  wakeful  vigil.  Against  the  danger  of  a  false 
liberalism,  and  in  advocacy  of  the  majesty  of  definite  precepts 
and  statutes,  we  are  now  assigned,  because  better  understood, 
our  true  vocation  in  the  confederation  of  Christian  bodies. 

Under  the  New  Testament  dispensation,  new  institutions  were 
organized,  and  new  duties  defined.  These  were  not  left  to  the 
uncertain  chances  of  oral  tradition,  but  were  committed  to  the 
fixed  forms  of  a  written  language.  The  Greek  tongue,  like  the 
ancient  ark  overlaid  with  gold,  contains  our  priceless  covenant. 
We  receive  it  as  a  sacred  trust.  And  as  it  would  have  been  an 
act  of  sacrilege  for  a  Jew  to  have  changed  one  phrase  in  the  ten 
words  of  the  covenant,  it  seems  no  less  so  for  us  to  modify  any 
commandment  of  our  Lord.  A  great  poet  interprets  the  spirit 
of  Christ's  commission  to  us  as  Baptist  believers  when  he  says : 

"  Hold  thou  the  good ;  define  it  well, 
For  fear  Divine  Philosophy 
Should  push  beyond  the  mark  and  be 
Procuress  to  the  Lords  of  hell." 


THE   SOCIETY   OF   FRIENDS 

Rev.  Charles  Mellen  Woodman,  B.D. 
Friends'  Church,  Portland,  Me. 

The  year  1833  looked  upon  a  body  of  Friends  in  this  country 
scattered  along  the  entire  Atlantic  coast,  and  reaching  westward 
across  the  Alleghany  Mountains  principally  into  the  Middle 
States.  They  were  living  well  along  in  that  second  period  of  the 
Society's  history,  a  period  which  extended  from  the  close  of  the 
seventeenth  century  to  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth,  when  the 
intense  evangelistic  zeal  of  the  first  fifty  years  of  Quakerism  had 
disappeared,  and  the  quickening  that  came  to  the  Society  in  the 
latter  half  of  the  nineteenth  century  was  still  a  thing  of  the  future. 
Their  spirit  was  one  of  quiet  introspection,  and  from  the  stand- 
point of  the  world  and  of  other  religious  sects  they  were  seclu- 
sive.  Among  themselves  there  was  intense  feeling  over  the 
Hicksite  schism  of  1827-28,  which  had  divided  the  Society  into 
nearly  equal  parts,  and  from  the  efifects  of  which  they  were  still 
suffering. 

During  the  thirties  and  forties  of  the  last  century  Joseph 
John  Gurney,  an  English  Friend,  brought  to  the  whole  Society 
a  vital  message,  making  an  appeal  for  Bible  study  and  an  evange- 
listic ministry.  After  the  Civil  War  the  great  revival  swept 
thousands  into  the  Kingdom,  and  west  of  the  AUeghanies  mem- 
bership among  the  Friends  increased  from  32,000  to  78,000. 
This  gain  was  exclusively  among  the  Orthodox  Friends.  The 
gains  in  the  Hicksite  branch  have  been  relatively  small.  At 
present  they  number  a  little  over  22,000.  The  Orthodox  mem- 
bership in  this  country  approximates  95,000.  (It  is  of  this 
branch  that  this  paper  treats.)  With  the  development  of  the 
western  part  of  the  country  the  Friends  helped  to  carry  the  Gospel 
message  to  the  newly  settled  regions.  Within  the  past  seventy- 
five  years  the  following  Yearly  Meetings  have  been  established, 
viz.,"^  Iowa,  Kansas,  Western  in  Indiana,  Wilmington  in  Ohio, 

*  The  name  of  the  Yearly  Meeting  defines  in  general  terms  its  locality. 

314 


THE    SOCIETY    OF   FRIENDS 


315 


Oregon,  California,  Canada,  and  Nebraska,  which  was  set  apart 
from  Iowa  Yearly  Meeting  last  year. 

In  missionary  activities  the  Friends  have  developed  work 
among  the  Negroes  and  Indians,  and  in  Mexico,  Cuba,  Porto 
Rico,  Africa,  Madagascar,  Constantinople,  Palestine,  Syria, 
India,  China,  and  Japan. 

Within  the  past  forty  years  ten  colleges  have  been  founded, 
making  a  total  of  eleven  in  this  country  and  one  in  Canada. 
These  colleges,  by  developing  strong  Biblical  departments, 
together  with  two  training  schools,  are  filling  as  best  they  can 
the  place  of  a  theological  seminary.  In  the  past  twenty  years 
these  schools  have  contributed  toward  supplying  a  ministry 
fairly  well  equipped  for  the  growing  demands  of  meetings  which 
within  a  quarter  of  a  century  have  come  to  value  with  growing 
appreciation  the  efficiency  of  the  pastoral  system.  For  more 
than  half  of  the  last  century  the  call  for  an  educated  ministry 
was  practically  nothing;  now  the  demand  is  rapidly  becoming 
universal. 

Aside  from  the  expansion  of  Quakerism,  which  came  as  a  re- 
sult of  the  great  revival  movement  that  swept  over  this  country 
about  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  the  greatest  accomplish- 
ment of  the  Society  of  Friends  within  seventy-five  years  has  been 
the  bringing  about  of  a  practical  organic  unity  of  the  American 
Yearly  Meetings.  Beginning  with  the  year  1883,  conferences  of 
Friends  from  the  several  Yearly  Meetings  were  held  at  intervals 
of  five  years.  The  permanent  result  of  these  fraternal  gather- 
ings was  the  Uniform  Discipline,  approved  by  the  Conference  in 
1897,  and  adopted  by  a  sufficient  number  of  the  Yearly  Meetings 
in  the  few  years  following  to  make  it  effective  upon  those  which 
acted  favorably  upon  it.  The  American  organization  is  known 
as  the  Five  Years'  Meeting,  and  embraces  twelve  of  the  fourteen 
American  Yearly  Meetings.  The  initial  steps  of  this  movement 
for  a  united  American  Quakerism  are  full  of  promise.  Two 
sessions  of  the  Five  Years'  Meeting  have  been  held.  The  boards 
on  Legislation,  Education,  Condition  and  Welfare  of  the  Negroes, 
Foreign  Missions,  and  Church  Extension  are  in  process  of  organi- 
zation and  have  already  accomplished  some  effective  work. 

Present-day  Quakerism  is  placing  less  emphasis  upon  peculiar- 
ities of  dress  and  speech,  and  more  upon  methods  of  worship 
and  service  adapted  to  the  age  in  which  we  live.     The  readjust- 


3i6  RECENT  CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

ment  necessary  to  meet  modern  conditions  is  by  no  means  being 
achieved  without  difficulty.  The  absence  of  creed  gives  freedom 
for.  growth  such  as  few  denominations  possess,  but  makes  the 
Society  liable  to  tangential  and  extreme  movements.  A  twofold 
conservatism  and  liberalism,  the  one  in  theology,  the  other  in 
methods  of  work  and  worship,  play  no  small  part  in  complicating 
the  efforts  to  attain  the  highest  degree  of  efficiency  in  the  face 
of  enlarging  opportunities.  In  their  attempt  to  meet  these  prob- 
lems the  Friends  of  to-day  are  combining  in  a  wholesome  way 
the  evangelistic  aggressiveness  of  the  first  fifty  years  of  their 
history,  and  the  quiet  dignity,  poise,  and  rigidity  of  character 
which  have  marked  the  Friends  of  the  last  two  hundred  years. 
They  are  making  themselves  felt  as  a  spiritual  force,  presenting 
to  the  world  a  belief,  simple  but  fundamental,  and  a  life  devoid 
of  artificiality,  and  calm  in  its  rest  upon  the  Eternal. 


THE   REFORMED   CHURCH   IN  AMERICA 

Rev.  Irving  Husted  Berg,  B.D. 
Reformed  Church,  Catskill,  N.Y. 

The  first  significant  event  since  1834  in  the  history  of  the 
Reformed  Church  in  America  was  the  immigration  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Free  Church  of  the  Netherlands  to  Michigan  in  1846. 
These  Hollanders  had  seceded  from  the  State  Church,  and  left 
their  country  for  America  because  of  severe  religious  opposition 
and  persecution.  In  many  cases  the  pastors  brought  their  en- 
tire congregations  with  them,  and  these  churches  were  organized 
into  a  Classis  and  admitted  in  1850  into  the  Reformed  "  Dutch" 
Church.  In  1867  this  name  was  changed  to  "The  Reformed 
Church  in  America"  and  the  word  "Dutch"  is  no  longer  part 
in  any  way  of  the  Church's  title.  Since  1864  over  one  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  immigrants  have  come  to  the  western  section 
of  the  Reformed  Church  in  their  quest  for  religious  liberty. 
They  founded  Hope  College  at  Holland,  Michigan,  in  1866,  and 
the  Western  Theological  Seminary  at  the  same  place  soon  after- 
ward. The  activity  of  the  western  branch  of  the  Church  has 
also  resulted  in  the  founding  of  schools  which  give  promise  of 
great  usefulness. 

In  the  East,  Rutgers  College  (1766),  the  Theological  Semi- 
nary (1784),  and  the  Preparatory  School  («>.  1770),  all  located 
at  New  Brunswick,  N.J.,  have  enjoyed  a  steady  and  consistent 
growth  during  the  last  seventy-five  years,  and  have  educated 
many  men  who  have  become  prominent  in  all  walks  of  life, 
especially  as  ministers,  not  only  of  the  Reformed  Church,  but 
of  other  leading  denominations  as  well. 

The  Reformed  Church  has  carried  on  correspondence  at  various 
times  with  about  forty  other  religious  denominations  and  bodies, 
with  the  idea  of  maintaining  friendly  and  fraternal  relations 
with  all  evangelical  churches.  In  the  Alliance  of  Reformed 
Churches  she  has  always  taken  a  prominent  part.      As  a  true 

317 


3i8  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

child  of  the  Reformation,  she  has  sought  to  make  herself  felt  in 
the  life  and  progress  of  the  Church  Universal. 

The  Constitution  of  this  denomination,  which  has  several  times 
been  revised,  provides  a  form  of  government  which  is  elastic, 
and  yet  which  furnishes  a  definite  standard  for  the  carrying  on 
of  ecclesiastical  affairs  with  uniformity  and  dispatch.  While 
this  Constitution  requires  allegiance  on  the  part  of  ministers  to 
the  Canons  of  the  Synod  of  Dordrecht  of  1618,  it  should  be 
noted  that  liberty  of  individual  conscience  has  ever  been  granted 
her  ministers  by  the  Reformed  Church.  Though  there  have 
been  men  in  the  ranks  of  her  ministry  who  have  differed  widely 
in  their  individual  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures  and  of  the 
Church  standards,  yet  she  has  never  had  a  heresy  trial. 

While  for  many  years  the  oldest  denomination  in  America  has 
neglected  her  opportunities  for  church  extension,  there  has  re- 
cently come  an  awakening  to  a  sense  of  her  responsibility  for 
domestic  mission  work.  This  is  due  in  no  small  measure  to  the 
activity  of  the  Women's  Executive  Committee  of  Domestic 
Missions,  which  was  organized  in  1882.  These  women  have 
quickened  the  whole  Church,  and  have  been  remarkably  success- 
ful in  their  work,  in  cooperation  with  the  Board  of  Domestic 
Missions,  among  the  Indians  of  the  West  and  the  Mountain  Whites 
of  the  South.  The  new  Classis  of  Oklahoma  also  owes  much  to 
the  encouragement  and  assistance  of  this  branch  of  the  Church. 

But  the  most  significant  fact  in  the  history  of  the  denomination 
during  the  last  seventy-five  years  has  been  its  progress  in  foreign 
missionary  work.  In  the  very  front  rank  among  all  denomina- 
tions in  her  per  capita  contributions  to  this  cause,  the  Reformed 
Church  has  been  second  to  none  in  her  progressive  leadership 
in  the  work  in  Asia,  ever  since  the  organization  of  her  Board 
of  Foreign  Missions  in  1832.  For  twenty-five  years  this  Foreign 
Mission  Board  carried  on  its  work  through  and  in  cooperation 
with  the  American  Board.  Since  1857  the  Reformed  Church 
has  prosecuted  her  foreign  mission  work  separately.  In  1875 
the  Women's  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  was  organized,  and  has 
proved  a  most  efficient  factor  in  the  work. 

Most  unselfishly  has  the  denomination  given  consistent  and 
splendid  leadership  to  the  foreign  mission  movement  in  China, 
Japan,  India,  and  Arabia.  In  1864  the  action  of  the  Reformed 
Church  Synod  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  an  independent 


THE   REFORMED    CHURCH   IN   AMERICA     319 

Union  Church  of  the  Presbyterian  order  in  China,  probably  the 
earliest  effort  for  church  union  and  separate  autonomy  on  foreign 
soil.  This  was  not  only  a  new  departure,  but  consistent  with 
the  self-sacrificing  spirit  which  has  characterized  the  foreign 
mission  work  of  the  Reformed  Church. 

In  1876  the  first  United  Church  in  Japan  was  formed  out  of 
a  body  of  Christians  gathered  together  largely  by  the  representa- 
tives of  the  Reformed  Church  in  that  land.  In  1906  the  United 
Presbyterian  Church  in  India,  over  which  the  Governor  of  Bengal 
is  now  Moderator,  was  formed,  in  which  union  the  venerable  Dr. 
Jacob  Chamberlain  of  the  Reformed  Church  took  a  large  part. 
It  is  safe  to  say  that  this  movement  could  hardly  have  been  con- 
summated without  the  assistance  of  our  missionaries  and  Foreign 
Board.  Indeed,  this  most  significant  union  movement  in  India 
was  initiated  and  has  been  led  throughout  by  representatives  of 
the  Reformed  Church  in  that  land.  So  wisely  has  this  ecclesias- 
tical union  been  guided,  that  the  Congregationalists  in  India  have 
recently  made  definite  overtures  with  a  view  to  joining  in  this 
movement,  that  there  may  be  a  United  Church  of  Christ  in 
India. 

The  Arabian  Mission,  which  was  founded  in  1889,  was  the  first 
mission  in  that  country  from  America,  and  has  been  used  by 
God  to  stir  the  whole  Church  to  thought  and  prayer  for  the 
Mohammedan  world. 

Unselfish  devotion  to  the  cause  of  Christ,  and  generous  giving 
up  of  her  best  for  the  wider  spread  of  His  Kingdom  in  the  foreign 
field,  made  possible  by  the  loyalty  and  generosity  of  the  little 
Reformed  Church  at  home,  have  been  the  most  significant 
facts  in  her  history  during  the  last  three  quarters  of  a  century. 
However  the  Reformed  Church  in  America  may  have  neglected 
her  opportunities  for  church  extension  or  refused  to  enter  into 
competition  with  other  denominations  at  home,  she  has  set  a 
pace  in  the  work  abroad  which  not  only  challenges  the 
admiration,  but  should  arouse  the  best  efforts  of  her  sister 
denominations. 


THE  GERMAN  EVANGELICAL  CHURCH 

Rev.  Frederick  Henry  Graeper 
Geruan  Evangelical  Church,  Chillicothe,  Ohio 

Many  readers  of  this  sketch  will  naturally  ask,  what  is  the 
Evangelical  Church  ?  What  events  in  the  history  of  the  Christian 
Church  have  contributed  to  its  origin,  and  why  does  it  call  itself 
"  Evangelical  "  ?  Seventy-five  years  more  than  cover  its  existence 
in  this  country ;  therefore  this  rdsume  of  its  progress  within  that 
time  will  include  its  entire  history. 

In  1817  Frederick  William  III  of  Prussia  proclaimed  a 
union  of  the  Lutheran  and  Reformed  churches  within  his  realm, 
which  union  has  since  that  time  been  known  by  the  name 
Evangelische  Kirche,  or  the  Prussian  State  Church.  While  this 
was  the  only  instance  of  an  actual  union  of  the  two  great  branches 
of  the  Reformation,  it  was  nevertheless  the  ideal  of  many  Chris- 
tians in  other  parts  of  what  is  now  the  German  Empire  and  Switz- 
erland, who  thought  that  the  time  had  arrived  for  the  laying 
aside  of  doctrinal  controversies.  Among  these  were  especially 
the  members  and  friends  of  the  two  well-known  Missionary 
Societies  of  Basle  and  Barmen,  who  were  to  be  found  in  all  parts 
of  Germany  and  Switzerland  in  both  the  Lutheran  and  Re- 
formed Churches. 

In  1837  the  Missionary  Society  of  Basle  sent  two  of  its  young 
ordained  missionaries,  G.  W.  Wall  and  Joseph  Rieger,  to  Amer- 
ica. They  were  sent  in  response  to  an  appeal  of  Mr.  Richard 
Bigelow  of  New  York  City  and  other  Americans  of  New  York 
and  New  England,  who  saw  the  need  of  missionary  work  among 
the  German  immigrants,  especially  in  the  West.  The  two 
missionaries  spent  the  first  four  months  of  their  sojourn  in  Amer- 
ica in  Hartford,  where  they  found  friends  who  took  a  lasting 
interest  in  the  work  which  they  were  to  undertake.  The  writer 
regrets  that  he  has  not  been  able  to  learn  the  names  of  these 
good  Hartford  people. 

320 


THE    GERMAN   EVANGELICAL   CHURCH      321 

From  Hartford  they  made  their  way  to  St.  Louis  where  they 
took  up  the  work  of  organizing  congregations.  More  men  soon 
followed,  and  some  had  even  preceded  Wall  and  Rieger  into 
this  great  field.  The  necessity  of  organized  work  was  soon  felt. 
A  meeting  was  therefore  called  which  was  held  in  the  little  log 
church  of  Rev.  L.  Nollau,  another  Basle  man,  who  was  to  be- 
come one  of  the  leaders,  at  Gravois  Settlement,  Mo.  There, 
under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  eight  men  founded  the 
German  Evangelical  Church  Society  of  the  West.  A  constitu- 
tion was  adopted,  the  doctrinal  paragraph  of  which  was  briefly 
this:  "We  recognize  and  accept  the  canonical  books  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testament  as  the  revealed  Word  of  God  and  as 
the  sole  guide  of  faith  and  conduct.  In  the  interpretation  of  the 
same  we  recognize  the  symbolical  books  of  the  Lutheran  and 
Reformed  churches  —  the  Augsburg  Confession,  Luther's  Cate- 
chism, and  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  in  so  far  as  their  teach- 
ings agree.  In  their  points  of  difference,  however,  we  recognize 
only  the  respective  passages  of  Scripture  and  exercise  the  liberty 
of  conscience  prevailing  in  the  Evangelical  Church."  Thus  they 
tried  to  realize  the  great  principles  enunciated  by  Augustine, 
which  have  since  become  the  traditional  motto  of  the  Evan- 
gelical Church  in  America:  "In  essentiis  unitas,  in  dubiis 
libertas,  in  omnibus  caritas." 

This  organization  grew  steadily.  In  1850  a  Theological 
Seminary  was  founded  at  Femme  Osage,  Mo.  Its  first  periodi- 
cal, Der  Friedensbote,  was  also  published  that  year  on  a  hand 
press.  The  latter  had  been  presented  by  Mr.  Richard  Bigelow, 
who,  with  other  friends  in  the  East,  at  various  times  rendered 
considerable  financial  aid. 

Several  smaller  church  bodies  which  had  been  founded  in  the 
same  spirit  were  soon  united  with  the  German  Evangelical 
Church  Society  of  the  West,  —  the  German  Evangelical  Church 
Society  of  Ohio  in  1858,  the  United  Evangelical  Synod  of  the 
East  in  i860,  and  the  Evangelical  Synod  of  the  Northwest  in 
1877.  Since  these  unions  had  been  consummated  the  name  of 
the  organization  was  changed  to  the  more  comprehensive  title, 
The  German  Evangelical  Synod  of  North  America. 

The  German  Evangelical  Church  has  always  been  German, 
its  work  being  mainly  among  the  German  immigrants  through- 
out the  United  States.     Within  the  last  decade,  however,  it  has 


322  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

become  necessary  to  introduce  English  services  into  many 
churches.  In  a  few  instances  the  EngHsh  language  is  already 
used  exclusively. 

The  polity  of  the  Evangelical  Church  has  been  gradually 
developed,  according  to  its  growth  and  needs.  It  consists  of  a 
general  organization  in  which  both  churches  and  pastors  hold 
membership  and  which  meets  in  conference  every  four  years. 
It  is  presided  over  by  a  president  who  is  elected  every  four  years. 
There  are  now  eighteen  districts  or  state  synods  which  meet  in 
conference  every  year.  The  Evangelical  Church  now  numbers 
282,195  communicants,  1355  churches,  and  1007  pastors.  It 
has  its  Theological  Seminary  at  St.  Louis,  and  one  college  at 
Elmhurst,  111.  It  supports  its  own  foreign  mission  in  India, 
and  has  during  the  last  fifteen  years  been  especially  active  in 
following  the  trail  of  the  German  immigrant  to  the  Pacific  coast 
and  the  great  Northwest. 

The  demand  has  at  various  times  been  made  that  the  Evan- 
gelical Church  should  make  its  own  definite  doctrinal  state- 
ment. But  it  has  always  remained  true  to  the  principles  of  its 
founders,  that  both  the  Lutheran  and  the  Reformed  symbolical 
statements  be  retained  side  by  side,  and  that  perfect  freedom 
be  allowed  its  members  as  to  the  disputed  points.  Thus  not 
only  those  who  were  Evangelical  in  the  sense  of  the  Prussian 
State  Church,  but  also  Lutherans  and  Calvinists,  have  worked 
side  by  side  in  perfect  harmony.  As  a  union  church  the  Evan- 
gelical Synod  certainly  fills  a  distinct  want,  and  has  a  mission  to 
perform  which,  through  its  own  initiative  and  also  through  its 
example,  must  be  of  lasting  influence  in  helping  to  fulfill 
the  Master's  will  when  he  prayed  ''that  they  may  all  be  one." 
In  bringing  this  about  the  Evangelical  Church  has  stood  and 
will  always  stand  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  other  denominations 
which  try  to  realize  this  ideal  through  both  federation  and 
organic  union. 


FEDERATION  AND  UNION  OF  CHURCHES 

Professor  Charles  Sumner  Nash,  D.D. 
Pacific  Theological  Seminary 

Followers  of  Christ  have  never  been  able  to  forget  the  Mas- 
ter's prayer  for  unity.  Through  the  centuries,  therefore,  disfigured 
by  discord  among  brethren,  prayer  and  effort  toward  reunion 
have  never  wholly  failed.  But  the  present  centripetal  move- 
ment, with  its  sense  of  duty  and  its  shout  of  organized  power,  is 
entirely  new  within  the  last  fifty  years.  At  the  opening  of  our 
Seminary  period  no  significant  action  had  occurred,  no  awaken- 
ing had  begun.  The  hour  of  peace  and  union  had  not  yet  come. 
Gigantic  divisive  forces,  notably  those  of  slavery  and  political 
disruption  in  our  own  land,  were  ascendant.  Some  principal 
ecclesiastical  divisions  occurred  after  1834.  In  1837  New 
School  and  Old  School  Presbyterians  sprang  apart  on  doctrinal 
grounds.  On  the  issues  to  be  fought  out  in  our  Civil  War 
passionate  cleavages  were  made,  producing,  among  other  new 
bodies,  the  Southern  Baptists,  Methodists,  and  Presbyterians. 
In  1843  the  Free  Church  broke  away  from  the  Scotch  Establish- 
ment. In  England  the  Established  Church  was  in  unquestioned 
control,  while  the  non-conformist  bodies  had  not  caught  the 
idea  of  federated  free  churches.  On  mission  soil  each  denomina- 
tion was  doing  its  separate  work,  and  the  great  cooperation  was 
still  many  years  ahead. 

Yet  the  spirit  of  union  was  preparing  the  ground.  Christians 
had  been  cooperating  for  years  in  certain  interdenominational 
activities,  notably  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for 
Foreign  Missions,  the  American  Bible  Society,  the  American 
Tract  Society,  the  American  Sunday-school  Union.  The 
primary  aims  of  these  societies  being  specific,  they  yet  aided 
profoundly  the  centripetal  tendency  which  has  since  taken  defi- 
nite form  in  a  world-wide  movement  of  church  federation  and 
union. 

323 


324  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

That  movement  began  to  gather  force  after  the  Civil  War. 
In  peace  and  union  various  causes  of  church  division  declined. 
Sectional  antagonisms  were  bound  to  disappear.  Doctrinal 
differences  yielded  to  rising  intelligence  and  brotherhood.  The 
age  of  organization  challenged  the  churches  to  adopt  efficiency 
as  a  dominant  note  in  duty.  In  1870  Old  School  and  New  School 
Presbyterians  regained  their  union,  and  the  modern  movement 
for  the  reunion  of  Christendom  was  fairly  begun.  It  has  al- 
ready shown  itself  one  of  the  most  powerful  and  pervasive 
elements  in  current  world-progress.  Its  interests  and  issues  are 
supreme,  and  upon  them  it  is  marshaling  forces  no  less  than 
ecumenical.  This  paper  can  do  no  more  than  enumerate  certain 
characteristics  of  the  movement. 

1.  It  is  marked  by  simplified  doctrinal  holdings.  Followers 
of  Christ,  developing  the  sense  of  values,  are  discovering  the 
essentials  of  doctrine.  Upon  these  they  find  themselves  agreed, 
and  their  service  to  men  identical.  Doctrinal  disagreements 
have  flamed  up  into  tragedies  for  the  most  part  upon  pomts  now 
called  non-essential.  Hence  a  main  cause  of  separation  is 
fading  away  in  the  growing  light. 

2.  A  recognition  has  come  of  the  unity  of  Christian  work  as 
well  as  of  Christian  faith.  Religious  problems  and  opportuni- 
ties are  world-wide.  Divisions  are  wasteful.  To  prey  upon 
one  another  is  a  crime.  The  duty  is  peremptory  to  organize 
commensurately  with  the  task.  The  deadly  fight  against  sin 
and  degradation  covers  a  vast  area  and  black  depths.  Without 
more  delay  the  death-grapple  must  be  joined  at  all  points  and  all 
depths.  There  are  forces  enough,  rightly  deployed  and  co- 
operating, to  fight  the  battle  comprehensively. 

3.  The  mission  fields  have  shamed  and  led  the  home  land. 
In  the  frightful  abysses  of  heathenism  the  disagreements  and 
strifes  at  home  are  unutterable  folly,  unpardonable  crime  against 
dying  myriads,  pitiful  hindrances  to  the  Kingdom.  The  mis- 
sionaries and  their  converts  began  quietly  to  cooperate,  and  then 
to  organize.  "Foreign  missions,"  writes  Secretary  J.  L.  Barton, 
"have  been  the  university  in  which  our  churches  and  home 
organizations  have  received  their  training  for  cooperation  and 
federation.  .  .  .  More  interdenominational  institutions  have 
been  organized  abroad  and  are  now  (1908)  in  successful  operation 
than  exist  in  the  home  field." 


FEDERATION   AND    UNION    OF    CHURCHES     325 

In  the  great  mission  centers,  like  Bombay,  Peking,  and  Tokio, 
it  is  customary  for  all  missionaries  of  whatever  church  names 
to  form  "missionary  associations"  for  the  discussion  of  common 
problems  and  the  furtherance  of  effective  interdenominational  co- 
operation. In  Japan  for  several  years  nearly  all  the  Protestant 
missions  have  acted  together  in  the  "Standing  Committee  of 
Cooperating  Christian  Missions,"  with  such  working  depart- 
ments as  practical  comity,  Christian  literature,  evangelism, 
education,  and  philanthropy.  The  Protestant  Christians  of 
Japan,  having  sustained  for  many  years  a  branch  of  the  Evangel- 
ical Alliance,  are  now  reorganizing  it  into  a  National  Federation 
of  Churches  comprising  all  denominations.  In  China  the 
Centenary  Missionary  Conference,  held  in  1907,  initiated  a 
National  Federation  of  all  Protestant  missions  and  native  Chris- 
tians, to  act  through  a  national  council,  divisional  councils,  and 
provincial  councils.  In  India  for  a  number  of  years  all  the 
missionary  bodies  have  held  stated  conferences  and  maintained 
relations  of  comity  and  cooperation,  while  the  native  Christians 
of  various  denominations  are  sustaining  an  Indian  National 
Missionary  Society. 

In  education,  literature,  publication,  and  medical  work  the 
Protestant  denominations  are  uniting  all  over  the  missionary 
world.  A  union  theological  college  is  projected  for  South  India, 
a  union  mission  normal  school  for  the  Bombay  Presidency.  In 
China  four  of  the  largest  mission  boards  are  unitedly  sustaining 
a  chain  of  colleges,  including  the  liberal  arts  for  both  men  and 
women,  medicine,  and  theology.  Four  other  denominations 
have  agreed  upon  a  Christian  university  for  West  China.  In 
Japan  few  mission  schools  are  strictly  denominational,  literary 
and  publication  work  goes  on  cooperatively,  and  a  common 
hymn-book  recently  issued  has  been  adopted  by  all  denomina- 
tions save  one.  These  illustrations  indicate  throughout  the 
missionary  world  a  notable  federative  movement  with  a  distinct 
tendency  toward  organic  union. 

4.  The  reaction  of  the  mission  fields  upon  the  home  lands  has 
been  decisive.  The  official  mission  boards  have  followed  the 
gleam.  The  Conference  of  Foreign  Mission  Boards  of  North 
America,  comprising  officers  and  delegates  of  all  the  Evangelical 
boards,  held  in  January,  1909,  its  sixteenth  annual  meeting, 
forty-six  missionary  organizations  participating.     In  these  meet- 


326  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

ings  all  the  practical  problems  of  world-wide  evangelism  are 
brought  under  united  consideration,  to  the  end  that  the  total  work 
may  be  conducted  in  harmony.  Home  missions  are  falling  into 
line.  In  1908  eighteen  home  missionary  societies,  representing 
nine  denominations,  organized  a  standing  conference  for  stated 
meetings  and  cooperant  measures.  In  one  state  the  missionary 
superintendents  of  five  leading  denominations  have  agreed  upon 
a  working  basis  of  comity.  In  English-speaking  lands  local, 
district,  and  even  national  federation  movements  are  in  full 
swing,  while  various  attempts  at  organic  union  of  denominations 
are  in  evidence.  These  advances  have  been  promoted  by  many 
different  agencies,  no  influence  reaching  farther  than  that  from 
the  mission  fields. 

5.  A  large  number  of  undenominational  and  interdenomina- 
tional agencies  have  contributed  greatly  to  the  rapprochement  of 
churches.  The  following,  in  addition  to  those  already  named, 
belong  in  such  a  group :  the  Young  Men's  and  Young  Women's 
Christian  Associations,  the  Evangelical  Alliance,  the  Women's 
Christian  Temperance  Union,  the  Young  People's  Society  of 
Christian  Endeavor,  the  Student  Volunteers,  the  Young  People's 
Missionary  Movement,  the  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement, 
the  World's  Christian  Student  Federation.  Many  other  re- 
ligious and  philanthropic  bodies,  less  permanent  and  powerful, 
have  helped  to  minimize  church  divisions  and  promote  united 
action.  This  large  group  of  agencies,  most  of  which  have 
arisen,  and  all  of  which  have  done  their  work,  within  our 
Seminary  period,  constitutes  an  important  phase  of  the  great 
reunion  movement.  Its  contribution  to  distinctively  ecclesias- 
tical action  has  been  incalculable. 

6.  A  principal  characteristic  of  the  great  movement  has  been 
federation  as  distinguished  from  organic  union.  Much  of  the 
cooperation  on  mission  fields  has  been  of  this  sort,  with  or  with- 
out express  organization.  In  the  home  lands  magnificent 
federative  action  is  now  in  full  operation.  Foremost  stands 
the  National  Council  of  the  Evangelical  Free  Churches  in  Eng- 
land and  Wales,  with  its  district  and  local  councils  and  its  all- 
embracing  parish  system.  In  our  own  land  we  have  the  Federal 
Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in  America,  a  working  federa- 
tion of  thirty-three  denominations  containing  over  eighteen 
millions  of  church-members.     Sixteen  state  federations  have 


FEDERATION   AND    UNION    OF   CHURCHES     327 

been  reported,  pioneer  among  them  the  Interdenominational 
Commission  of  Maine.  City  federations  are  found  in  many 
lands.  The  Federation  of  Churches  and  Christian  Organiza- 
tions in  New  York  City  has  the  Episcopal  Church  among  its 
leaders,  and  enjoys  in  much  of  its  philanthropy  the  cooperation 
of  Roman  Catholics  and  Jews.  The  London  Metropolitan 
Federation  comprises  sixty  separate  councils.  In  Australia, 
New  Zealand,  and  South  Africa  are  found  district  and  local  fed- 
erations, including  all  the  large  Christian  bodies.  On  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe  a  beginning  has  been  made  by  a  council  of  free 
churches  in  Berlin.  The  Federal  Council  has  pledged  the 
American  churches  and  organizations  to  promote  in  every  way 
the  closest  possible  federation  of  all  Christian  churches  in  foreign 
mission  fields. 

It  is  inspiringly  obvious  that  the  Christian  world  is  fairly 
possessed  by  the  spirit  of  federation.  This  movement  is  more 
immediate  and  wide-reaching  than  that  for  organic  union. 
The  object,  limitations,  power,  and  duty  of  federation  can  be 
quickly  seen  and  embraced.  The  corporate  union  of  separate 
church  bodies  often  requires  decades  and  generations,  nor  is  it 
likely  ever  to  proceed  so  far  as  the  free  churches  of  England, 
the  United  States,  and  Australia  have  carried  their  federation 
within  three  years. 

7.  Another  mark  of  the  present  movement  is  found  in  unions 
of  churches  within  the  great  polity  or  family  groups.  In  Scot- 
land the  seven  Presbyterian  bodies  of  seventy-five  years  ago  have 
been  reduced  to  three.  In  England  the  separate  Presbyterian 
bodies  became  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  England  in  1876. 
In  the  United  States  the  Cumberland  Presbyterians  have  re- 
cently returned  to  the  parent  body.  In  Canada  the  many 
Presbyterian  bodies  became  in  1875  the  Presbyterian  Church  of 
Canada.  Since  1873  the  six  Methodist  churches  have  formed 
the  Methodist  Church  of  Canada.  In  Australia  and  New  Zea- 
land the  Methodist  divisions  have  achieved  union  since  igoo. 
In  Germany  the  Lutherans  and  the  Reformed  have  been  united. 
Besides  these  and  other  corporate  unions  of  allied  churches, 
international  councils  have  been  formed  within  the  great  family 
bounds.  Thus  we  have  to-day  Pan-Anglican,  Pan-Presby- 
terian, Pan-Methodist,  Pan-Baptist,  Pan-Congregational,  and 
other  such   ecumenical   organizations.     This  is  the   point  of 


328  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

readiest  cooperation  and  union.  Church  bodies  that  are 
congenial  in  doctrine  and  administration,  many  of  which  had  a 
common  origin,  some  of  which  have  resulted  solely  from  re- 
grettable division,  are  finding  it  increasingly  difficult  to  remain 
apart.  Negotiations  are  now  in  progress  at  different  points 
within  the  various  polity  or  family  groups,  as  between  the  north- 
ern and  southern  branches  of  Baptists,  Methodists,  and  Presby- 
terians, destined  to  reduce  gradually  the  scandalous  number  of 
Christian  sects. 

8.  The  spirit  of  love  and  unity  cannot  be  restrained  within 
family  or  even  polity  limits.  Across  the  boundaries  runs  the 
pursuit  of  union,  sometimes  to  failure,  sometimes  to  success,  but 
always  advancing  the  cause  of  union  and  the  Kingdom  of  God. 
Mention  here  is  deserved  by  the  famous  Quadrilateral  put  forth 
in  1886-88  by  the  bishops  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
and  the  Church  of  England.  Its  proposed  basis  of  union  was 
impossible,  but  its  spirit  revived  the  hope  and  zeal  of  Chris- 
tendom. In  Canada,  the  Presbyterians,  Methodists,  and  Con- 
gregationalists  have  been  earnestly  engaged  for  a  number  of 
years  in  plans  to  form  the  United  Churches  of  Canada.  Refer- 
ence should  also  be  made  to  the  recent  Tri-Church  Council,  an 
unsuccessful,  but  not  fruitless,  effort  to  bring  together  United 
Brethren,  Methodist  Protestants,  and  Congregationalists 
throughout  the  United  States. 

The  most  successful  example  of  such  union  of  different  polities 
was  given  when  in  1908  the  churches  belonging  to  the  Scotch 
Presbyterian,  the  Dutch  Reformed,  and  the  English  and  Ameri- 
can Congregational  missions  came  to  corporate  union  in  the 
South  India  United  Church.  This  new  Christian  community 
of  over  140,000  souls  has  framed  a  polity  combining  the  ex- 
cellences of  all  the  systems  involved.  The  Wesleyans,  Metho- 
dists, and  Baptists  were  hardly  ready  to  enter  the  United  Church, 
but  desired  closer  federative  relations.  This  object-lesson, 
furnishing  the  high-water  mark  thus  far  of  inter-polity  organic 
union,  is  being  earnestly  conned  and  deeply  felt  by  the  Christian 
world. 

9.  As  the  missionary  world  has  been  leading  the  reunion  of 
Christendom,  so  it  is  there  that  the  highest  aspirations  find  freest 
utterance.  Christians  in  the  great  mission  lands,  not  content 
with  comprehensive  national   federation  and  partial  organic 


FEDERATION    AND    UNION    OF    CHURCHES     329 

unions,  are  seriously  contemplating  national  churches.  In  no 
country  is  federation  more  inclusive  and  complete,  or  the  prin- 
ciples of  Christian  union  more  profoundly  controlling,  than  in 
Japan.  Christian  India  has  its  National  Missionary  Society 
composed  of  Christians  of  the  several  denominations  and  sup- 
ported by  all  alike.  At  the  Centenary  Missionary  Conference 
in  Shanghai  a  national  church  for  China  was  frequently  men- 
tioned, and  a  resolution  was  offered,  but  not  brought  to  vote,  in 
favor  of  a  national  church  as  the  goal  of  all  mission  work  in 
the  empire.  This  trend,  upon  Oriental  soil,  marks  the  utmost 
outreach  at  present  of  the  union  movement.  It  may  be  brought 
to  speedy  realization.  Western  church  divisions  are  nothing  less 
than  a  scandal  and  offense  to  Oriental  Christians;  why  should 
they  be  enforced  or  even  tolerated?  Let  a  national  Christian 
church  arise  in  each  great  country,  to  face  with  undistracted 
power  the  prodigious  Oriental  religions.  Such  a  lesson  in 
union  is  too  divine  to  go  unheeded  in  the  West,  and  once  more 
the  Christian  hosts  hear  themselves  ordered  forward  to  the 
colors. 

10.  Indications  are  present  that  the  main  adjustments  must 
now  belong  to  polity.  With  growing  agreement  upon  es- 
sentials of  doctrine  are  seen  the  folly  and  shame  of  allowing 
divisive  significance  to  incidentals.  Thus  is  disappearing  the 
one  obstacle  which  has  been  reckoned  insurmountable  without 
impairing  mental  integrity  and  conscience.  Reunion  is  no 
longer  rationally  and  conscientiously  impossible.  The  great 
behest  of  the  Master  that  they  all  be  one  is  delivered  into  the 
realm  of  obligation  and  action,  and  regains  at  a  bound  the 
supreme  place  in  ecclesiastical  duty. 

The  labor  now  becomes  that  of  administrative  adjustment. 
In  this  domain  of  form  and  method  nothing  is  impossible.  All 
degrees  of  essential  union  can  be  wrought  out  into  action.  The 
spirit  of  love  and  ministry  is  always  able  to  incarnate  itself. 
The  churches  growing  single-hearted  in  thought  and  love  and 
resolution,  their  vast  resources  can  be  applied  victoriously  to 
the  enormous  task. 

11.  Progress  thus  far  made  and  projected  does  not  prophesy 
the  entire  disappearance  of  administrative  divisions  in  the  final 
reunion  of  Christendom.  Willingness  to  unite  must  grow  per- 
fect and  universal.     Brotherly  love  must  be  given  the  scepter  of 


330  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

the  world.  Differences  in  polity  have  hitherto  been  a  subordi- 
nate assertion  of  unyielding  division.  Formal  union,  now  at  the 
front,  must  be  carried  far  enough  to  prove  and  establish  once  for 
all,  not  only  union  of  heart  and  purpose,  but  also  unembarrassed 
united  service.  These  being  assured,  further  administrative 
union  may  cease  to  be  imperative.  Divisions  that  mean  noth- 
ing more  than  group  preferences  in  modes  of  worship  and 
methods  of  pursuing  common  ends,  preferences  followed  only 
so  far  as  they  do  not  offend  brotherhood  or  mar  united  de- 
votion to  the  Kingdom  —  such  divisions  remain  or  become  per- 
missible. But  federation  and  organic  union  must  be  carried 
much  farther  in  order  to  usher  in  such  a  state  of  administrative 
liberty.  Denominational  individuality,  and  even  the  integrity 
of  the  four  historic  polities,  must  sacrifice  themselves  to  essential 
and  embodied  unity.  One  hundred  and  fifty  distinct  and  rival 
church  bodies  in  the  United  States  cannot  continue  to  be  justified 
or  forgiven.  Brotherhood  and  service  cannot  thrive  while  rent, 
as  at  present,  into  "  six  kinds  of  an  Adventist,  seven  kinds  of  a 
Catholic,  twelve  kinds  of  a  Mennonite  or  Presbyterian,  thirteen 
kinds  of  a  Baptist,  sixteen  kinds  of  a  Lutheran,  and  seventeen, 
kinds  of  a  Methodist." 


VII.     CHURCH    WORK 


THEOLOGICAL   EDUCATION 

Rev.  Edward  Strong  Worcester,  B.D. 
Broadway  Congregational  Church,  Norwich,  Conn. 

Seventy-five  years  take  us  back  only  to  the  theological 
schooling  of  our  grandfathers.  With  our  great-great-grand- 
fathers things  were  altogether  different,  as  every  theologue 
knows.  To  a  few  courses  of  study  conducted  by  the  college 
professor  of  divinity  they  were  wont  to  add  such  instruction 
as  they  found  it  convenient  to  receive  from  some  pastor  in  ac- 
tive service,  with  whom  at  the  same  time  they  served  a  more 
or  less  practical  apprenticeship.  This  custom  had  possibilities 
and  likewise  limitations.  Many  an  ancient  parsonage  on  a  New 
England  hill  had  no  small  repute  a  century  ago  as  a  seminary 
of  theological  learning,  and  the  system  —  so  different  from  our 
own  —  has  always  a  certain  fascination  for  the  speculative  in- 
quirer into  things  past  and  gone.  But  this  falls  outside  our 
present  field.  The  sense  of  its  limitations  had  already  pre- 
vailed. The  transitional  arrangement  devised  by  the  Dutch 
Reformed  Church  in  1784,  which  came  presently  to  be  the  semi- 
nary at  New  Brunswick,  the  early  schools  of  certain  Presbyterian 
bodies,  and  the  institution  wrought  out  at  Andover,  in  1808,  by 
the  earnest  leaders  of  Massachusetts  Congregationalism,  were 
quickly  followed  by  like  foundations  in  several  quarters,  and  the 
new  manner  of  theological  training  was  firmly  established  before 
the  period  with  which  our  review  begins. 

This,  then,  was  hardly  a  subject  for  discussion  when  the 
new  torch  was  kindled  on  East  Windsor  Hill,  nor  yet  the  general 
arrangement  of  a  curriculum,  nor  the  methods  of  class  in- 
struction. Rather  was  the  division  of  opinion  concerned  with 
the  substance  of  the  doctrines  taught  and  the  theological  (as 
distinguished  from  the  pedagogical)  propensities  of  the  teachers. 
Inquiring,  as  we  do,  what  alteration  seventy-five  years  have  made 

331 


332  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

in  methods  of  instruction,  we  are  much  more  clearly  provided 
with  a.  terminus  a  quo  ihsin  with  a.  termmus  ad  quem,ioT  there  was 
substantial  uniformity  among  seminaries  then,  whereas  the  sub- 
sequent changes  have  been  far  from  uniform,  and  the  many 
institutions  of  to-day  illustrate  contemporaneously  the  greater 
part  of  the  development  which  some  epitomize  entire  in  their 
single  story.  It  is  the  extreme  range,  not  the  minimum,  of  prog- 
ress that  concerns  us,  and  present  tenses  must  be  understood 
accordingly. 

In  some  formal  particulars,  however,  we  are  all  where  we 
were  then.  Theological  instruction  has  been  given  in  a  three- 
years'  course  from  the  time  that  separate  schools  of  divinity 
were  first  established  in  this  country.  Other  professions,  be- 
ginning perhaps  with  less,  have  steadily  increased  the  allotted 
period  of  preparation ;  the  ministry  has  had  to  fit  ever  growing 
interests  into  the  constant  term,  though  the  East  Windsor  ex- 
aminers so  early  as  1848  pronounced  it  to  be  too  little.  This 
stability  has  been  due  in  part  to  another  constant  factor,  namely, 
that  the  normal  preparation  for  the  seminary  has  always  been 
held  to  be  the  full  collegiate  course ;  after  which  the  average 
student  fast  grows  impatient  of  delay  in  "settling  down." 

The  departments  of  study  seventy-five  years  ago  corresponded 
roughly  to  the  number  of  years  they  occupied  —  Biblical  Litera- 
ture, Christian  Theology,  and  Ecclesiastical  History,  with  ex- 
cursions into  Practical  Theology  by  way  of  application.  And 
whether  these  three  (or  four)  should  be  considered  consecutively 
or  in  parallel  appears  to  have  been  one  of  the  chief  pedagogic 
issues  for  a  considerable  time  thereafter.  Presumably  it  was 
the  natural  reaction  of  the  human  mind  from  sheer  monotony 
that  led  to  the  abandonment  of  the  attempt  to  concentrate  each 
year's  effort  upon  a  single  line  of  study.  Moreover,  the  order 
in  such  case  was  hard  to  settle  and  keep  settled,  and  Professor 
Woods,  for  example,  discussed  earnestly  the  respective  advan- 
tages of  learning  what  other  men  have  thought  and  done  (His- 
tory) before  or  after  one  knows  what  it  is  proper  to  think  one- 
self (Theology). 

This  simpler  problem  of  arrangement  soon  gave  way,  how- 
ever, to  more  complex,  with  the  subdivision  of  fields  and,  lat- 
terly, the  addition  of  many  new  disciplines  unthought  of  at  the 
outset  —  critical,    historico-theological,    musical,    sociological, 


THEOLOGICAL   EDUCATION  S33 

psychological  —  significant  alike  of  the  vitality  of  theological 
science  and  of  the  new  demands  upon  it  for  practical  ser- 
vice. While  it  may  not  be  quite  within  bounds  to  say  that 
**the  little  one  has  become  a  thousand,"  seminary  catalogues 
of  the  last  thirty  years  show  a  constant  and  rapid  multiplication 
of  professorships,  departments,  and  courses  within  each  depart- 
ment, which  would  have  amazed  the  worthies  two  generations 
ago.  And  this  expansion,  which  again,  in  strictness,  does  not 
fall  to  us  to  discuss  here  in  detail,  is  reflected  in  a  new  method, 
the  elective  system,  whose  appearance  in  schools  of  theology  is 
due  not  merely,  one  feels  sure,  to  the  influence  of  the  correspond- 
ing development  in  the  colleges,  but  quite  as  much  to  the  in- 
exorable pressure  of  unlimited  subject-matter  upon  limited 
time. 

The  change  involved  is  more  radical  than  its  first  modest 
announcements  might  suggest,  for  with  the  passing  of  the  pos- 
sibility, has  there  not  also  passed  a  cherished  ideal,  of  a  com- 
plete, and  therefore  uniform,  indoctrination  of  every  student  in 
the  things  pertaining  to  his  ministry?  The  seminary  of  to-day 
admits  frankly  that  its  graduate  is  not  a  finished  product  (made 
according  to  the  pattern  shown  beforehand  in  its  creed) ;  and, 
realizing  as  never  before  that  this  impossible  is  also  undesirable, 
it  has  turned  with  quickened  interest  to  the  more  human  task  of 
preparing  the  student  to  carry  on  his  own  development. 

Which  brings  us  duly  to  the  real  core  of  our  matter  —  the 
changes  in  method  which  have  grown  out  of  changes  in  aim. 
The  announcements,  examiners'  reports,  and  pamphlet  argu- 
ments of  1834  and  many  years  before  and  after,  reveal  all 
unconsciously  an  attitude  which  two  generations  have  almost 
revolutionized,  an  attitude,  first,  toward  the  Bible  studied,  then 
an  attitude  toward  confessional  statements  of  the  faith  once  for 
all  delivered  to  the  saints. 

The  former  is  not  easy  to  define  without  seeming  to  impeach 
the  supreme  importance  of  the  Bible  for  ourselves,  but  the  dis- 
tinction between  then  and  now,  though  it  be  more  in  tone  than 
in  words,  is  none  the  less  a  real  one.  It  appears,  for  example, 
in  this  very  common  order  of  topics  in  Dogmatics :  "  the  evidences 
of  revelation,  the  nature  and  degree  of  inspiration,  the  system 
of  doctrines  revealed  in  the  sacred  text."  Granted  the  infallible 
source,  the  whole  process  went  on   deductively,  unvexed  by 


334  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

questions  of  date,  authorship,  documents,  or  the  evolution  of 
doctrine  within  the  Scripture  itself.  "  The  authority  of  religious 
experience,"  either  in  the  Bible  or  out  of  it,  would  have  been  a 
strange  conception  to  men  thus  accustomed  to  the  authority  of 
the  written  word. 

With  this  went  naturally,  and  even  more  conspicuously, 
the  domination  of  the  confessional  habit.  Seminaries  existed 
to  teach  men  the  correct  interpretation  of  Scripture  as  set  forth 
in  the  correctest  available  creed.  The  exceptional  status  of  the 
Yale  Divinity  School  in  having  no  fixed  confession  was  a  real 
offense  to  many,  who  complained  that  there  was  no  way  of 
knowing  what  the  New  Haven  professors  taught  except  from 
their  lectures  and  published  books !  Moreover,  it  involved  a 
"want  of  security,"  for  was  not  their  teaching,  like  modern 
time-tables,  subject  to  change  without  notice?  Security,  cer- 
tainly, was  sufficiently  cultivated  elsewhere.  An  examining 
committee  in  1839  records  its  "conviction  that  the  students  are 
thoroughly  indoctrinated  in  the  great  principles  of  the  confes- 
sion of  faith  upon  which  the  institution  is  founded,"  Another 
in  1849  reports  with  pleasure  that  "the  officers  of  the  seminary 
evidently  felt  no  necessity  or  wish  to  conceal  their  sentiments  or 
instructions."  (The  italics  are  ours,  as  we  had  supposed  it  was 
the  students  who  were  examined.)  A  committee  in  1855  speaks 
well  of  "  the  correctness  of  the  views  exhibited  by  the  students  in 
accordance  with  the  confession,"  and  the  next  year's  examiners 
report  that  "  the  confession  is  strictly  adhered  to,  and  fully  and 
thoroughly  taught,"  Extreme  devotees  of  the  German  "his- 
torical method"  would  surely  grieve  over  Dr.  Woods'  conviction 
that  students  must  be  well  grounded  in  correct  theological  views 
before  being  introduced  to  "the  various  clashing  opinions  and 
unauthorized  practices"  of  history,  though  there  is  no  little 
wisdom  in  his  counsel  that  they  become  thus  "settled"  by 
"carefully  searching  the  Scriptures  for  themselves."  But  on 
the  whole  there  is  a  manifest  concern  lest  the  youth  be  contami- 
nated by  "  hurtful  errors"  or  shaken  in  their  faith,  and  an  anxiety 
to  remove  difficulties,  meet  objections,  and  above  all  "defend" 
the  truth,  which  shows  how  much  the  angle  of  approach  to  that 
same  goal  of  truth  has  changed.  "Defense,"  indeed,  is  con- 
spicuous in  the  catalogue  of  Hartford  Seminary  as  late  as  1882, 
though  the  next  year's  announcement  does  speak  of  "giving 


THEOLOGICAL   EDUCATION  335 

modern  views  a  fair  chance,"  presumably  before  they  are  de- 
molished. 

In  short,  the  whole  training  was  viewed  as  the  elucidation 
and  support  of  a  scheme  of  truth  given  to  begin  with,  rather  than 
investigation,  discovery,  and  final  orderly  construction.  It  was 
the  old  deductive  method  as  opposed  to  the  new  "scientific," 
inductive  method.  It  aimed  at  conformity  and  even  uniformity 
more  than  at  originality  and  independence  —  though  we  are 
by  no  means  sure  that  there  were  not  more  actually  self-directed 
theologians  in  America  fifty  years  ago  than  there  are  now,  when 
some  of  us  have  made  such  a  fetish  of  "freedom"  as  to  be  en- 
slaved by  the  latest  imported  novelty. 

The  change  came  gradually,  of  course,  as  it  has  come  in  every 
other  department  of  study,  but  it  did  not  lag  so  far  behind  others 
as  the  assailants  of  seminary  conservatism  would  sometimes  have 
us  believe.  The  word  "  inductive"  does  not  appear  indeed  until 
the  '8o's,  and  the  now  familiar  "sources"  about  the  same  time, 
but  the  thing  was  there  before  it  was  talked  about.  An  Andover 
Bulletin  of  1882  was  devoted  to  "The  Scientific  Method  in 
Theology  as  Contrasted  with  the  Dogmatic  and  Rationalistic," 
and  its  author  was  by  no  means  one  of  the  younger  professors. 
A  department  of  Biblical  Theology  (technically  so  called,  as 
distinguished  from  "a  Biblical  theology,"  on  which  the  fathers 
never  ceased  to  be  properly  insistent)  was  first  announced,  I 
think,  at  Yale  in  1875.  On  the  whole,  it  would  probably  be 
fair  to  say  that  the  new  attitude  has  been  making  itself  felt 
for  forty  years,  and  has  transformed  the  entire  aspect  of  the 
seminary  curriculum  in  the  last  thirty. 

A  word  only  remains.  No  doubt  there  are  yet  many  weak- 
nesses and  some  extravagances  in  the  use  of  these  new  methods 
of  instruction  —  faults,  by  the  way,  which  are  not  confined  to 
the  schools  of  theology  —  but  their  correction  will  work  out  in 
due  time,  A  broadening  human  outlook,  a  sounder  view  of 
Scripture  inspiration,  the  recognition  of  manhood's  opening 
maturity  and  of  the  fundamental  necessity  that  every  coming 
spiritual  leader  think  his  world  fairly  through  for  himself  in 
humble,  earnest  dependence  on  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  Christ 
—  these  are  the  elements  of  life  within  the  method  which  shall 
make  of  it  not  a  new  bondage  (as  "  method,"  in  quotation- 
marks,  is  apt  to  be),  but  a  more  perfect  law  of  liberty. 


THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF   PREACHING   IN 
AMERICA 

Professor  Alexander  Ross  Merriam,   D.D. 
Hartford  Theological  Seminary 

For  practical  purposes  the  Civil  War  divides  our  survey 
into  two  periods.  Strictly  speaking,  there  are  three:  the  Early 
(1834-60),  the  Middle  (1860-80),  and  the  Modern  (1880-1909). 
Preaching  impulses  for  the  early  epoch  date  from  the  beginning 
of  the  century,  and  the  chief  modern  influences  come  after  1880. 
Taking  the  Civil  War,  however,  as  the  dividing  line,  we  may 
regard  1800-34  as  preparatory  to  the  period  under  considera- 
tion, and  1865-80  as  transitional  within  it.  Denominationally 
the  Congregational  pulpit  has  had  the  longest  evolution,  from 
Colonial  times.  Notable  preaching  of  other  bodies  dates  chiefly 
from  the  Revolution.  Episcopalian  preachers  were  compara- 
tively inconspicuous  until  181 1 — after  Bishop  Hobart's  con- 
secration. Methodist  preaching  acquired  its  momentum  after 
1784  —  chiefly  in  the  South  and  West  until  1834.  This  is  also 
practically  true  of  the  Baptists.  These  shorter  periods  of  de- 
velopment heighten  the  relative  credit  of  these  bodies.  The 
most  noteworthy  preaching  has  been  in  the  North;  the  West- 
ern type  is  somewhat  more  practical  in  tone,  though  more 
conservative  in  theology.  A  close  survey  of  personalities,  how- 
ever, discloses  some  eminent  names  of  Southern  origin. 

Certain  historical  data  of  influence  just  before  1834  affected 
the  first  half  of  our  era.  Unitarianism  had  passed  its  earlier 
conservative  stage  under  Channing,  and  by  1832  the  ultra  type  of 
Theodore  Parker  was  becoming  dominant,  chiefly,  however,  in 
eastern  Massachusetts.  President  Dwight's  great  triumphs  in 
preaching  had  just  broken  the  post-Revolution  era  of  darkness. 
The  first  missionary,  humanitarian,  and  educational  influences 
upon  preaching,  in  the  first  quarter-century,  were  in  full  swing 
before  1834.  The  great  migration  westward  had  brought  to  the 
front,  for  preaching,  the  Methodist  and  Baptist  fervor.      Strictly 

336 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  PREACHING  IN  AMERICA     337 

within  the  Early  era  two  great  revivals  (1830  and  1857)  gave  tone 
to  much  of  the  preaching.  The  theological  disruption  in  the 
Presbyterian  church  (1837)  affected  the  Congregational  pulpit  as 
well.  The  publication  of  Bushnell's  Christian  Nurture  in  1847 
was  epochal  in  bridging  the  older  individualistic  and  the  newer 
organic  conceptions.  The  type  of  Calvinism,  as  modified  by 
Lyman  Beecher  and  Dr.  Finney,  dominated  thought  during  the 
earlier  half  of  the  period.  By  the  time  of  the  revival  of  1857 
still  further  modifications  are  noticeable. 

I.  Pulpit  Personalities.  —  Passing  on  to  consider  the  more 
notable  preachers,  our  enumeration  must  be  confined  to  this 
country,  and  to  certain  leading  Protestant  denominations.  Very 
little  has  been  written  upon  the  American  pulpit.  Biography  and 
sermonic  literature  are  scarce  for  the  earlier  period.  Files  of  the 
National  Preacher,  a  few  compendia  of  sermons,  and  pamphlets 
in  libraries  form  the  chief  basis  of  inductive  study. 

(i)  1834-65.  —  A  group  of  personalities  immediately  preceding 
1834  belongs  strictly  within  this  enumeration.  Timothy  D wight 
had  only  recently  died.  His  sermon  on  the  "  Sovereignty  of  God  " 
is  accounted  one  of  the  world's  greatest  discourses.  Lyman 
Beecher  was  just  entering  his  professorship,  having  achieved  his 
most  notable  preaching.  Dr.  E.  D,  Griffin,  with  Dr.  Beecher, 
who  had  constituted  the  great  duumvirate  against  Unitarianism, 
lived  into  our  era.  Edward  Payson  had  finished  his  brief  and 
famous  career  in  1827.  Nettleton  had  achieved  his  evangelistic 
work  in  1834,  and  gave  his  subsequent  services  to  our  Seminary 
until  1844.  Among  the  Presbyterians,  the  most  famous  preacher 
had  been  John  M.  Mason  (d.  1829).  President  Nott  lived  long 
after  1834,  but  his  most  famous  sermon,  "On  the  Death  of 
Hamilton,"  came  earlier.  The  Methodists  had  produced  Asbury 
and  Summerfield.  The  famous  Baptist,  Francis  Wayland,  had 
already  preached  his  two  greatest  sermons,  "  On  the  Dignity  of 
Missions"  (1823)  and  "On  the  Death  of  Adams  and  Jefferson" 
(1826),  but  his  educational  work  and  pulpit  power  continued 
far  into  our  era. 

Strictly  during  this  period  (1834-60),  the  Congregational 
group  included  the  three  Edwardses  (Justin,  Bela  B.,  and  Tryon), 
Drs.  Finney  and  Kirk,  Leonard  Bacon,  Nehemiah  Adams,  and 
the  brothers  Abbott,  Professors  Pond  and  Shepard  were  at 
Bangor,  Park  and  Phelps  at  Andover,  Taylor  and  Tyler  at  Yale 


338  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

and  East  Windsor,  and  Edwin  Hall  at  Auburn  —  all  famous  as 
preachers.  Drs.  Hawes  and  Bushnell  were  in  Hartford.  The 
senior  Storrs  at  Braintree  was  the  peer  of  his  son  in  Brooklyn. 
Dr.  J.  P.  Thompson  and  Joel  Parker  were  making  the  Broadway 
Tabernacle  famous  in  New  York.  Dr.  A.  L.  Stone  was  uphold- 
ing the  traditions  of  Park  Street  in  Boston.  Drs.  Todd,  Budding- 
ton,  and  Eddy  were  conspicuous,  and  Joshua  Leavitt  was  keeping 
the  pulpit  abreast  of  reform  movements.  H.  W.  Beecher's 
greatness  was  reaching  its  zenith  —  to  culminate  during  and 
after  the  Civil  War. 

The  Presbyterians  had  a  notable  group:  the  Alexander 
family,  the  Kentucky  Breckenridges,  and  the  two  Palmers  at 
Charleston  and  New  Orleans.  Albert  Barnes  was  at  the  height 
of  his  power  in  Philadelphia.  Hoge  was  in  Richmond,  and 
Kolloch  in  Norfolk.  Dr.  Sprague  was  at  Albany.  Field  and 
Prime  added  religious  journalism  to  the  pulpit,  and  Skinner 
and  Miller  added  professorate  to  parish.  The  famous  blind 
preacher,  Timothy  Woodbridge,  belongs  in  this  era.  Brooklyn 
had  a  distinguished  group  in  Ichabod  Spencer,  the  elder  Van 
Dyke,  Dr.  Jacobus,  and  Samuel  H.  Cox. 

Perhaps  New  York  never  had  so  strong  a  pulpit  as  in  the  old 
down-town  streets  (Spring,  Allen,  Rutgers,  and  others).  Here 
were  Krebs,  Erskine  Mason,  Spring,  Hatfield,  Potts,  and  Cheever. 
The  Dutch  Reformed  preachers  Bethune  and  Vermilye  were  also 
in  New  York.  There  also  were  heard  the  eminent  Universalist 
Chapin  and  the  Unitarian  Bellows.  Beecher  and  Chapin  and 
Bellows  were  counted  the  great  pulpit  triumvirate.  There  too 
the  Baptists  had  two  celebrated  preachers:  Wm.  R.  Williams 
and  Thomas  Armitage;  while  elsewhere,  Ide  in  Albany,  Baron 
Stow  in  Boston,  and  Richard  Fuller  in  South  Carolina  attained 
great  fame,  while  Wayland,  Sears,  and  E.  S.  Robinson  were 
passing  from  leading  pastorates  to  academic  honors.  The 
Episcopal  Church  in  New  York  saw  Dr.  Morgan  Dix  beginning 
his  work  in  Trinity,  and  Dr.  Tyng  laying  the  foundations  at  St. 
George's.  Elsewhere  its  great  preachers  were  principally  its 
bishops :  Mcllvaine,  Clark,  Hopkins,  Burgess,  Cleveland  Coxe, 
and  Alonzo  Potter.  But  Alexander  Vinton  of  Boston  and 
Philadelphia  held  the  primacy  of  eloquence  in  his  communion, 
till  surpassed  by  his  own  protege,  Philhps  Brooks.  The  greatest 
men   of  Methodism   belong   to    a   later   period  —  chiefly    her 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  PREACHING  IN  AMERICA    339 

bishops.  But  in  this  earher  period  belongs  John  P.  Durbin, 
who  pioneered  the  movement  for  a  more  educated  ministry. 
McChntock  was  conspicuous  in  the  New  York  group.  Samuel 
Simpson,  peer  of  the  greatest,  began  his  long  career.  The  blind 
preacher  Milburn  entered  upon  his  famous  chaplaincy  in 
Congress. 

Before  passing  to  the  later  period,  note  a  few  external  features 
of  this  era.  With  a  few  notable  exceptions  the  preachers  were 
highly  educated  men.  Their  biographies  disclose  the  remark- 
able number  who  had  previously  studied  law.  At  no  subse- 
quent period  was  there  more  frequent  interchange  of  Presbyterian 
and  Congregational  pastorates.  It  was  an  era  of  almost  universal 
pastoral  evangelism.  Finney,  Kirk,  and  Nettleton  supplemented, 
but  never  supplanted,  a  prevalent  evangelistic  predilection. 
The  continuance  of  family  names  in  the  ministry  is  a  marked 
feature :  three  Edwardses,  three  Beechers,  numerous  Alexanders, 
Duffields,  Palmers,  Abbotts,  Potters,  Notts,  and  others.  We  note 
also  the  long  pastorates:  Dr.  Storrs,  sixty-three  years,  Samuel 
Nott,  seventy-one,  and  others  of  corresponding  length. 

It  is  also  noteworthy  how  many  of  the  current  sermons  of  dis- 
tinction were  from  men  in  comparatively  small  places.  The 
senior  Storrs  was  at  Braintree  all  his  life.  Cyrus  Yale  was 
famous,  though  in  the  New  Hartford  hamlet.  Haddam  and 
Stockbridge  covered  the  career  of  Dr.  Field.  Romeyn,  who 
preached  one  of  the  famous  sermons  of  the  century  ("  Enmity  to 
the  Cross")  was  always  in  smaller  fields.  Edwin  Hall  gained  his 
fame  in  South  Norwalk.  The  long  career  of  Samuel  Nott  in 
Franklin,  Conn.,  did  not  quench  his  great  repute.  This  record 
could  be  enlarged  ad  libitum.  The  comparative  absence  of 
allusion  (outside  of  Massachusetts)  to  Unitarianism  is  surprising. 
The  attitude  of  mind  towards  Catholicism  and  Episcopacy  is 
more  acute.  It  is  refreshing  to  our  courage  to-day  to  meet  fre- 
quent complaint  of  the  decline  of  preaching,  and  on  nearly  the 
same  indictments  that  we  hear  to-day.  Abundant  evidence  is 
educible,  yet  this  was  probably  the  golden  age  of  American  pulpit 
dominance.  It  is  also  interesting  to  hear  Dr.  Todd  arguing  for 
the  continuance  of  the  Sunday  evening  service,  and  suggesting 
the  novelty  (!)  of  expository  preaching. 

(2)  From  1865  to  the  present  time.  —  As  already  intimated, 
this  era  has  a  natural  cleavage  about  1880,  when  distinctively 


340  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

modern  views  began  to  aflfect  the  pulpit.  The  era  from  1865  to 
1880  was  transitional.  The  War  gave  a  great  impulse  to  out- 
ward church  activities,  to  cooperation,  to  catholicity  of  sentiment, 
to  organization.  Individualistic,  as  compared  with  organic,  con- 
ceptions were  gradually  giving  way;  a  sense  of  sin  was  growing 
less  poignant  even  as  early  as  the  revival  of  1857 ;  and  conditions 
of  church-membership  were  becoming  less  creedal  and  more 
freely  experimental.  The  Sunday-school  came  into  greater 
prominence.  Evangelism  was  becoming  more  specialized. 
Moody's  work  was  beginning. 

Many  great  ante-bellum  names  continued  in  force.  Dr. 
Bacon  was  taking  up  his  professorate,  after  laying  deep  founda- 
tions for  the  coming  social  era.  Edward  E.  Hale,  with  Collyer, 
came  into  especial  prominence  during  the  War.  Phillips  Brooks 
had  begun  his  career  in  Philadelphia.  The  homiletic  influence 
of  Professors  Park  and  Phelps  was  at  its  zenith  from  i860  to 
1880. 

Now  appeared  in  the  Congregational  pulpits  such  names  as 
William  M.  Taylor  in  New  York,  Dr.  Manning  in  Boston,  Dr. 
Mackenzie  in  Cambridge,  and  Hartford's  four  eminent  preachers, 
Burton,  Parker,  Twichell,  and  Walker.  Dr.  Gladden  was  start- 
ing his  social  impulses.  Dr.  Goodell  of  New  Britain  was  setting 
up  pastoral  ideals  alongside  of  the  Presbyterian  Cuyler  in  Brook- 
lyn. Now  came  Dr.  John  Hall  to  form  one  of  the  notable  New 
York  Presbyterian  group  containing  Crosby,  Hastings,  and 
Robinson.  Now  the  theologian-preachers  Hitchcock,  Shedd, 
and  Johnson  began  their  career.  Dr.  Duryea  was  in  Brooklyn. 
Among  the  Baptists,  Dr.  Boardman  was  in  his  prime  at 
Philadelphia.  Dr.  Broadus  in  Kentucky,  and  Gallaher  and  Way- 
land  Hoyt  were  coming  to  the  front.  This  was  the  period  of  the 
most  eminent  Methodist  bishops.  Fowler,  Foster,  and  McDowell, 
while  Simpson  continued  his  career.  Chaplain  McCabe  was 
preaching  his  church-extension  sermons,  and  Warren,  Mallalieu, 
and  Goodsell  were  training  for  their  future  bishoprics.  The 
Frothinghams,  Minot  Savage,  Drs.  Chadwick  and  Bartol  were 
preparing  for  the  places  of  Hale  and  Clarke  and  the  elder 
Peabody. 

The  greatest  name  among  the  Episcopalians,  if  not  of  the 
century,  was  Phillips  Brooks.  Among  the  bishops  few  were 
greater  than  Frederick  Huntington,  giving  the  most  distinctive 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  PREACHING  IN  AMERICA    341 

preaching  impulse  to  modern  social  movements  in  the  Church. 
Some  of  these  earlier  preachers  passed  into  the  most  recent  era  of 
those  living,  from  whom  it  were  invidious  to  make  selection. 

II.  Certain  Characteristics  and  Contrasts.  —  Preaching  has 
three  great  categories  of  comparison  as  to  content  and  method : 
Truth,  Personality,  and  Audience.  The  main  difference,  we  may 
say,  between  earlier  and  modern  sermons  seems  to  be  the  relative 
prominence  of  these  three  elements.  In  the  earlier  period  the 
first  dominated  the  other  two;  in  the  latter  period  the  second  and 
third  are  relatively  the  more  dominant.  In  the  earlier  era, 
objective,  authoritative,  Biblical  truth,  controlled  generally 
by  a  particular  system,  held  relatively  in  check  to  some  degree 
the  freer  play  of  personality,  and  divided  the  audience  sharply, 
with  little  regard  for  temperamental  differences,  into  two  classes 
at  the  bar  of  probation.  Hence  a  certain  limitation  in  range  of 
pulpit  themes,  a  certain  monotony  in  motives  urged,  and  a  cer- 
tain Procrustean  method  are  yet  counterbalanced  by  mental 
confidence,  intensity  of  motive,  and  the  sharp  imminence  of  the 
sermon's  message  to  the  soul.  The  general  impression  in  reading 
these  older  sermons  is :  the  objective  infallibility  of  the  Bible,  the 
central  thought  of  probation,  and  the  imminence  of  conversion. 
Hence  mentality,  confidence,  and  urgency  are  its  notes.  Doc- 
trine is  dominant,  but  conceived  more  evangelistically,  as  com- 
pared with  the  preaching  of  the  Colonial  era.  The  modified 
Calvinism  of  Lyman  Beecher,  Finney,  and  Taylor  was  a  preaching 
theology  which  gave  closer  access  to  the  will.  It  is  a  far  different 
thing  to  read  about  the  theology  of  these  sermons,  and  to  read 
the  sermons  themselves  in  the  mental  grasp  and  heart-glow 
of  such  men  as  Justin  Edwards,  Shepard,  Barnes,  Wilhams, 
Bethune,  and  Krebs.     Three  things  are  specially  noteworthy :  — 

First,  the  mentality  of  this  preaching.  It  is  not  merely  the 
length  and  elaborateness  of  the  discussion,  but  its  closely  reasoned 
utterance  and  its  argumentative  method.  As  a  mental  exhibit 
of  its  own  apprehension  of  truth,  as  felt  to  be  both  logically 
defensible  and  also  Biblical,  it  has  not  been  surpassed  in  the 
modern  era.  Dr.  George  A.  Gordon  has  spoken  recently  of 
earlier  preaching  as  "testing  the  intellect  of  the  reader,  and  in 
turn  making  him  aware  of  his  intelligence,"  or  lack  of  it,  as  com- 
pared with  a  current  sermonic  attitude  which,  he  says,  tends 
"to  substitute  the  mill-round  of  the  mind  for  the  sun-path." 


342  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

Dr.  Gordon  to-day  as  a  preacher,  though  differing  so  notably  from 
the  earHer  theology,  yet  preserves  to  our  age  the  elaborate  treat- 
ment and  the  mental  fiber  of  preaching  which  was  far  more 
prevalent  then  than  now.  Dr.  Gunsaulus  and  Dr.  Storrs  in 
method  and  rhetoric  are  more  nearly  akin  to  a  style  abundantly 
prevalent  in  this  earlier  preaching.  The  modern  reader  of  the 
ante-bellum  preaching  feels  at  least  the  mental  tonic  of  a  confi- 
dent system  of  thought,  even  if  he  do  not  accept  it,  and  the  con- 
stant background  of  system  then,  as  compared  with  the  modern 
persistent  foreground  of  personal  differences  of  opinion  on  vital 
issues.  Whatever  our  estimate  of  that  early  theology,  it  gave  a 
mental  confidence  which  made  strong  preaching.  Its  limited 
range  challenged  reticulated  thought,  and  its  themes  were  what 
Professor  Phelps  has  called  "the  aristocracy  of  thought,  which 
deals  in  superlatives":  God,  Conscience,  Atonement,  Conver- 
sion, Duty,  and  Destiny. 

A  second  quality  which  underlay  this  mental  positiveness  was 
its  absolute  acceptance  of  an  infallible  Bible.  Even  early 
Unitarian  preaching  was  little  averse  to  a  strong  Biblical  dictum. 
There  was  almost  no  Biblical  perspective  in  this  era  of  preaching, 
yet  we  find  less  allegorizing  of  Scripture  than  in  Colonial  eras. 
Expository  preaching,  as  mere  current  comment,  was,  contrary 
to  the  general  supposition,  very  rare.  Nor  is  Biblical  phraseol- 
ogy used  in  form  of  lecture-room  citation,  as  often  supposed,  but 
is  woven  into  discourse  with  marvelous  rhetorical  and  familiar 
efficiency.  With  objective  revelation  an  undisputed  dictum, 
doubt  is  generally  treated  as  sin  in  rejecting  an  evident 
standard. 

A  third  characteristic  of  this  earlier  preaching  is  its  evangelis- 
tic tone.  It  is  not  so  true  to  say  that  this  preaching  is  doctrinal, 
as  that  it  is  doctrinal  evangelism.  We  do  not  find  so  much  bare 
dogmatic  discussion  as  we  had  expected;  we  do  find  every- 
where homiletic  use  of  doctrine  in  its  bearing  upon  probation. 
Probation  is  the  absorbing  theme,  from  whatever  point  ap- 
proached. The  brevity  and  sacredness  of  life  as  a  test,  the  im- 
minence of  death,  the  cleavage-line  of  peril,  the  eternal  issues  — ■ 
these  are  the  overshadowing  themes.  We  see  this  in  nearly  every 
doctrinal  compendium  preached  on  public  occasions :  in  Storrs, 
Sr.,  Justin  Edwards,  Dimmick,  Bidwell,  etc.  We  read  it  in  in- 
stallation sermons  on  "Conceptions  of  the  Ministry"  (Sprague, 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  PREACHING  IN  AMERICA    343 

Griffin,  Barnes,  Ray  Palmer,  and  more).  One  of  the  sharpest 
reminders  of  probation  I  have  found  was  preached  at  the  fu- 
neral of  a  young  lady.  The  same  imminent  burden  is  felt  for 
the  pastor's  own  soul,  if  he  be  not  faithful  to  plea  and  warning 
(Justin  Edwards,  Storrs,  etc.). 

The  correlate  of  probation  is  destiny  in  its  most  blessed  or 
appalling  portraiture.  Such  preaching  was  not  confined  to  the 
days  of  Jonathan  Edwards,  but  is  found  abundantly  in  sermons 
from  1834  to  1865.  Among  the  most  persistent  themes  are 
Heaven  and  Hell.  Even  material  conceptions  of  future  punish- 
ment and  glory  are  abundantly  illustrated.  Themes  like  "  Moni- 
tions of  the  Judgment"  (Justin  Edwards) ," Perdition  Dreadful" 
(Hamilton),  "The  Gospel  Woe,"  "Tears  at  the  Judgment" 
(Krebs),  are  prevalent.  So  gentle  a  preacher  as  Dr.  Sprague 
has  given  one  of  the  most  realistic  pictures  of  doom.  One  of 
Albert  Barnes's  most  tender  sermons  on  "Parental  Responsibil- 
ity" closes  with  thoughts  of  "the  great  separation."  New  Year 
suggests  to  Erskine  Mason  and  others  "The  Approach  of 
Death."  Realistic  time-measurements  of  bliss  or  punishment 
prevail  (Tappan  and  others).  Yet  the  brighter  side  of  destiny  is 
no  less  frequent,  as  seen  in  Pond  and  Shepard  and  many  more. 
The  constant  prevalence  of  probation  and  its  issues  indicates  the 
most  striking  difference  between  the  pulpit  of  that  day  and  now. 
Whether  it  has  come  about  from  recoil,  disbelief,  or  distaste ;  be 
it  humaneness,  different  perspective,  or  change  of  motive,  the 
most  radical  departure  in  modern  times  comes  from  the  dropping 
out  so  largely  of  this  particular  note  in  evangelism. 

Another  range  of  topics,  now  seldom  used,  is  seen  in  Jonathan 
Brace's  sermon  on  "The  Nature  and  Employment  of  Holy 
Angels,"  and  in  Enoch  Pond's  famous  discussion  on  "The  Great 
Conflict,"  an  intense  realization  of  the  battle  between  the  higher 
and  lower  forces  in  the  other  world.  Another  theme  which 
swayed  thought,  down  to  Professor  Park's  lecture-room,  is  the 
conception  of  the  drama  of  redemption  on  this  earth  as  a  spec- 
tacle to  other  worlds  of  sentient  beings.  But  while  doctrinal 
evangelism  was  the  staple  of  this  era,  experiential  preaching, 
which  is  the  type  of  modern  pulpit  discussion,  is  almost  entirely 
wanting.  We  occasionally  find  sermons  on  "Christian  Joy" 
(Edwin  Hall),  "Walking  in  the  Spirit"  (Spencer),  "Covetous- 
ness"  (Shepard),  "Secret  Sins"  (Todd),  " Fruitfulness  in  Old 


344  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

Age"  (Hawes),  and  others  similar;  yet  wide  reading  discloses 
few,  excepting  Bushnell  and  a  few  others,  who  are  harbingers 
of  a  coming  change. 

Social  preaching,  in  the  modern  sense,  is  rare,  and  generally 
confined  to  special  public  occasions,  like  the  "  Death  of  Hamil- 
ton" (Nott),  the  "Death  of  Adams  and  Jefferson"  (Wayland), 
the  "  Great  Fire  of  1845"  (J.  P.  Thompson),  "The  Great  Naval 
Accident"  in  1844  (Williams).  Thanksgiving  and  Fast  Day 
literature  contains  some  of  the  signal  sermons  of  the  era,  and 
permitted  a  freedom  on  political  subjects  usually  excluded.  It 
is  a  pity  that  one  of  Dr.  Bushnell's  greatest  sermons,  on  "Ameri- 
can Politics, "  is  not  included  in  his  works.  We  must  remember, 
however,  that  the  early  reforms  of  intemperance  and  dueling  were 
inaugurated  by  the  pulpit;  that  the  humanitarian  societies  owed 
their  inception  chiefly  to  Justin  Edwards  and  his  Andover  Fac- 
ulty. As  to  slavery,  Theodore  Parker  and  some  other  Unitarians 
were  the  leading  pulpit  antagonists ;  but  Finney  and  Oberlin  Col- 
lege were  also  outspoken.  Samuel  H.  Cox  was  mobbed  for  his 
pulpit  fidelity,  and  Joshua  Leavitt  was  equally  fearless.  Beecher 
was  the  great  tribune.  Dr.  Bacon  was  an  early  opponent,  and 
to  his  writings  Lincoln  is  said  to  have  attributed  his  early  im- 
pulses. The  era  under  review  was  the  Missouri  Compromise 
period,  with  its  passion  for  Union.  The  pulpit  took  probably  as 
high  ground,  when  it  did  speak,  as  did  Webster,  and  was  also 
as  prudential  as  was  he.  But  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill  in  1854 
met  widespread  protest  from  the  ministry,  and  the  Civil  War 
helped  to  break  the  trammels  of  the  pulpit  as  to  moral  political 
issues.  The  Broadway  Tabernacle  from  its  start  was  a  center  of 
social  impulse.  Dr.  Bacon's  famous  sermon  there  was  among 
the  first  to  outline  some  social  obligations  of  the  Church  which 
fruited  in  the  modern  era. 

The  modern  realism  of  Christ's  character,  spirit,  and  famil- 
iar beauty  as  a  man  is  very  largely  wanting  from  even  the 
more  practical  and  tender  preachers  like  Barnes,  Williams,  and 
Krebs.  We  find  little  emphasis  upon  the  love  of  God,  even  in 
preaching  on  the  Atonement.  Bishop  McClintock's  famous 
sermon  on  this  subject  in  1845  ^^^  quite  exceptional.  This 
became  Beecher's  theme.  It  began  to  be  more  widely  prevalent 
in  the  revival  of  1857.  The  milder  notes  emphasized  in  that 
movement  alarmed  Alexander  and  others.     It  was  the  lo'  e  of 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  PREACHING  IN  AMERICA    345 

God  that  chiefly  differentiated  Moody's  work  from  that  of  his 
predecessors. 

A  few  words  as  to  the  homiletic  method  of  this  first  period. 
There  was  far  more  monotony  and  reticulation  of  form  than  now. 
We  find  a  sermon  in  1841  with  four  main  heads  and  eight  con- 
cluding remarks  (Justin  Edwards).  Another  has  six  main  divi- 
sions with  numerous  subheads  and  three  formal  applications 
(Williams).  Even  Dr.  Storrs,  Jr.,  in  1884  has  seven  divisions. 
There  is  little  trace  of  informal  expository  preaching.  Serm.ons 
are  mostly  topical.  American  preaching  is  not  so  textual  as 
the  corresponding  preaching  in  England  and  Scotland.  The 
style  of  these  sermons  partakes  of  the  cadence  and  rhetorical 
elaboration  of  the  period  as  seen  in  the  political  orations  of 
Webster  and  Choate.  Dr.  Storrs  has  preserved  to  our  day  a 
type  that  was  once  the  norm.  Sermons  as  fine  as  his  have  been 
forgotten.  One  is  struck  with  the  freer  use  of  the  imagination 
than  is  permitted  to-day.  Scenic  power  of  notable  impressiveness 
is  abundant.  Instances  could  be  cited  of  dramatic  ability 
worthy  a  place  among  the  highest  flights  of  oratory.  One  re- 
straint upon  style  was  its  stereotyped  form  from  fear  of 
imputed  heterodoxy.  One  realizes  the  significance  of  Dr. 
Bushnell's  essay  on  language  after  reading  this  other  sermonic 
literature.  One  of  his  own  chief  contributions  lay  in  his  in- 
dividual vocabulary.  Dr.  Hickok  of  Auburn  was  suspected  of 
heresy  in  his  attempts  to  break  this  stereotype  of  language. 

Again,  this  period  is  significantly  lacking  in  illustration  — 
partly  from  a  sense  of  the  graphic  suflficiency  of  Scripture  for 
elucidation,  also  from  the  divorce  of  sacred  and  secular,  or  from 
distrust  of  literature  as  sentimental,  or  of  science  as  dangerous. 
One  is  surprised  at  the  scant  use  of  even  historical  allusion.  Some 
notable  exceptions  in  Hatfield,  Storrs,  Bushnell,  and  Williams 
emphasize  the  divergence.  Dramatic  imagination  and  argu- 
mentation are  chiefly  depended  upon  for  clarity. 

In  passing  to  the  more  modern  era,  we  remark  that  the  first 
and  most  comprehensive  difference  lies  in  the  relative  prominence 
of  personality  in  the  preacher,  and  of  recognized  diversity  in  the 
audience,  as  compared  with  the  predominance  of  systematized 
truth  in  earlier  preaching.  The  earlier  preaching  may  have  been 
Procrustean  in  its  treatment  of  truth,  but  it  was  intense  and  con- 
fident.    Yet  its  categories  of  personality  admitted  less  play  of 


346  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

individuality,  and  dwelt  upon  few  and  simple  types  of  tempera- 
mental differences  and  needs  in  the  audience  for  the  passion- 
ate responsibility  of  the  preacher.  The  audiences,  too,  were  far 
more  homogeneous  than  now,  and  the  preacher  was  surer  of 
holding  his  constituency.  All  the  modern  forces  since  the  War, 
especially  since  1880,  have  brought  to  the  front  freedom  and  va- 
riety of  preaching-personality.  Relative  heterogeneity  of  audi- 
ence, mentally,  socially,  spiritually,  affects  sharply  the  hitherto 
recognized  fixity  and  firmness  of  Biblical  and  theological  au- 
thority, which  have  relatively  declined. 

Following  from  this,  we  remark,  secondly,  the  comparative 
subjectivity  of  modern  preaching,  so  far  as  personality  is  concerned, 
and  the  reality  and  concreteness  of  inner  Christian  experience  and 
of  outward  action  demanded  by  a  modern  audience.  To  con- 
sider the  causes  of  this  would  be  to  discuss  the  whole  modern 
situation  in  Theology  and  Sociology.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  as  a 
result  two  types  of  preaching,  comparatively  new,  have  come  to 
prevail,  the  Experiential  and  the  Social. 

Experiential  preaching  emphasizes  personality  in  the  widest 
ranges  of  post-conversion  Christian  development  in  thought  and 
life.  Social  preaching  demands  that  religion  cover  the  related  life 
of  man  in  organic  duties,  as  well  as  the  individually  responsible 
relations  of  the  soul  with  God.  Certain  philosophical  influences 
coming  from  Kant  and  Hegel,  chiefly  by  way  of  Coleridge,  have 
emphasized  the  subjective  Christian  consciousness,  and  have 
elevated  the  ethical,  as  either  united  with  or  apart  from  spiritual 
sanctions.  Multifarious  practical  problems,  in  this  country  at 
least,  coming  from  immigration  and  the  benevolent  activities  of 
the  day,  have  combined  with  philosophical  and  scientific  in- 
fluences to  accentuate  these  two  types  of  preaching.  With  these 
data,  critical  and  historical  lines  of  thought  and  investigation 
have  emphasized  (whatever  the  authority  of  the  conclusions) 
the  Bible  as  a  book  of  life;  and  have  tended  to  lessen  temporarily 
the  exclusive  evangelistic  norm  of  its  use,  to  put  religion  into  new 
perspective,  to  open  up  the  literary  variety  of  the  Scriptures, 
to  bring  the  life  and  character  of  Christ  into  more  vital  touch  with 
concrete  living,  and  to  enlarge  knowledge  about  the  Bible  to  the 
temporary  neglect,  perhaps,  of  its  central  message. 

The  chronological  order  of  these  two  types.  Experiential  and 
Social,  is  significant,  yet  generally  overlooked.     First,  from  the 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  PREACHING  IN  AMERICA    347 

War  until  about  1880,  following  a  similar  earlier  development  in 
England  under  Frederick  Robertson,  it  was  the  experiential  and 
even  mystical  element  which  prevailed.  Social  preaching  fol- 
lowed after  1880.  The  whole  field  of  Christian  life  in  its  doubts, 
struggles,  fears,  and  temptations,  its  personal  and  temperamental 
differences,  was  earlier  opened  to  sermonic  treatment.  To  he 
a  Christian  as  well  as  to  become  one  was  the  great  burden  of  the 
pulpit,  and  a  wider  range  and  variety  of  spiritual  themes  than 
ever  before  began  to  appear.  Now,  the  great  significance  of  this 
earlier  half  of  the  modern  era  (1860-80)  is  that  by  its  deep  plow- 
ing in  personality,  its  experiential  note,  its  emphasis  on  post- 
Christian  character,  its  pulpit  passion  for  Christ's  person,  human 
as  well  as  divine,  a  vital  preparation  was  made  for  the  draughts 
of  the  social  era  after  1880.  By  experiential  preaching,  the 
external,  social  questions,  and  the  concrete  activities  of  the  social 
organism,  have  been  held  back  for  a  time  from  the  otherwise  in- 
evitable break,  as  in  the  eighteenth  century,  into  mere  ethicism, 
and  have  held  on  to  an  enlarged  spiritual  individual,  to  meet 
the  outward  trend  of  all  social  life  to-day.  The  two  great 
preachers  of  this  magnificent  responsibility  were  Bushnell  and 
Brooks,  both  coming  over  from  the  earlier  decades,  both  deeply 
experiential,  both  evangelical  but  original,  both  in  sympathy 
with  the  new  social  era,  though  speaking  little  of  it  specifically  — 
Bushnell,  however,  holding  still  to  the  homiletical  and  rhetorical 
forms  of  the  older  preaching,  and  Brooks  forging  out  for  himself 
an  entirely  new,  less  formal,  more  vital,  and  individual  method 
of  presentment.  Thus  the  realities  of  life  were  fostered  by  two 
trends  in  the  successive  order  of  preaching :  first,  the  new  sub- 
jective influences  of  individual  spiritual  life,  and,  second,  the 
objective  pressure  of  the  social  impulse.  The  results  upon 
modern  preaching  of  these  two  main  influences  are  seen  in  three 
particulars :  Variety,  Reality,  and  Sympathy,  which  we  may  call 
the  three  dominant  notes  of  the  modern  pulpit ;  variety  in  theme, 
reality  in  treatment,  and  sympathy  with  men,  be  it  in  thought, 
condition,  or  service. 

Variety.  —  A  most  cursory  comparison  shows  this  element.  A 
close  analysis  of  such  compends  as  the  Preachers  of  the  Age 
in  England,  or  the  Monday  Club  Sermons  (Congregational), 
The  Presbyterian  Pulpit  {m  this  country),  makes  this  evident. 
We  note  in  them  all :    first,  in  number,  the  predominance  of 


348  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

sermons  about  Christ ;  second,  experiential  themes  on  Christian, 
traits ;  third,  practical  social  issues.  There  are,  however,  rela- 
tively fewer  doctrinal  and  evangelistic  discourses.  The  recogni- 
tion of  varied  forms  of  Biblical  literature  fosters  the  enlargement 
of  theme.  It  is  the  many  other  aspects  of  Christ,  as  well  as  of  His 
one  mediatorial  mission,  that  increase  multiplicity  of  topics. 
A  broader,  if  less  intense,  conception  of  "  Gospel,"  "  Salvation," 
"  Preaching  Christ,"  prevails.  New  fields  of  Christian  applica- 
tion, once  undreamed  of,  make  variety  of  theme  and  treatment 
imperative.  The  prevalence  of  varied  secular  literature,  historic, 
scientific,  belletristic,  journalistic,  as  competitive  agencies  of  in- 
telligence and  impulse,  challenges  not  only  pulpit  authority,  but 
forces  a  certain  catholicity  of  judgment,  and  also  tends  to  break  up 
Procrustean  literary  norms  of  preaching.  Homiletic  categories  of 
the  religious  oration,  once  dominant,  are  ruthlessly  broken.  The 
essay,  the  conversational,  even  the  newpaper  style  invades  the 
pulpit.  Sensationalism  may  be  the  present  danger,  as  stereo- 
typed form  once  was.  All  these  tendencies  have  increased 
tremendously  the  range  and  variety  of  pulpit  illustrative  mate- 
rial. "Suggestive"  preaching  which  leaves  the  application  to 
the  hearer  is  now  more  in  vogue  as  compared  with  the  former 
reticulated  order  and  passionate  climax  of  argument  and  ex- 
position. That  a  sermon  be  "interesting"  seems  to  be  with 
many  the  primal  category  of  success.  In  any  case,  modern 
preaching  is  more  heterogeneous  both  in  theme  and  treatment, 
both  to  the  advantage  and  disadvantage  of  its  dignity  and  effect. 
Concreteness.  —  This  goes  with  variety.  It  is  a  correlate  of 
the  modern  passion  for  reality.  It  is  a  fruit  of  the  analytic  spirit. 
It  is  in  line  with  the  growing  thought  of  the  Bible  as  a  book  of 
life.  It  shares  a  current  recoil  from  doctrine  as  abstract,  and 
sets  up  experience  against  theory.  It  challenges  truth  for  its 
concrete  meaning.  In  searching  for  "the  real  needs  of  a  real 
world"  it  is  apt  to  dwell  upon  environing  conditions  to  the 
temporary  neglect  of  man's  deepest  need  of  all ;  and  while  it  has 
much  to  say  about  sins,  it  has  relatively  lost  a  former  generation's 
profound  sense  of  sin.  Repentance  for  the  past  is  less  sharply 
urged  than  present  duty.  Hopes  and  fears  for  the  future  are 
infrequent  motives.  The  "  otherworldly"  is  as  much  ignored  as 
it  was  once  ascendant,  while  yet  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  is  the 
dominant  word  of  current  preaching. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  PREACHING  IN  AMERICA    349 

Sympathy  is  the  third  note  of  modern  preaching  —  sympathy 
with  men  either  in  belief  or  condition.  This  is  the  outgrowth,  on 
the  one  hand,  of  the  modern  social  movement,  as  it  reaches 
further  back  into  the  subjective  tendencies  of  modern  thought. 
Inward  experience  and  outward  activity,  while  both  confusing 
and  varying  theological  formulas,  have  brought  men,  as  individ- 
ual or  related,  into  the  foreground ;  have  emphasized  the  intrica- 
cies of  thought,  and  the  environing  social  conditions.  Sympathy 
with  internal  conflicts,  no  less  than  with  external  surroundings, 
have  affected  both  the  pulpit  treatment  of  doubt,  and  the 
pressure  of  social  obligation.  Both  religious  experience  and 
practical  Christianity  have  come  to  expect  from  the  pulpit  an 
ethical  rather  than  a  philosophical  treatment  of  truth  and  life. 
"  To  ethicize  Christianity  "  is  the  prevalent  note.  But  a  study  of 
modern  sermons  discloses  less  concrete  preaching  upon  problems 
and  programmes  of  social  reconstruction  than  would  be  credited 
without  such  study.  Still,  a  pervasive  ethical  and  social  treat- 
ment of  all  subjects  is  the  notable  thing.  The  evident  change  in 
foreign  missionary  motive  is  as  marked  as  the  grounds  urged  for 
personal  and  citizen  duty  at  home.  Thus  far  the  subjective  and 
personal  religious  and  social  notes  of  Robertson  and  Brooks  have 
not  given  way  in  any  large  degree  to  the  mere  sociological  or 
political  sermon.  So  far  as  preaching  is  concerned,  it  is  an 
enlarged  man  in  Christ  that  is  emphatic.  It  is  less  a  mere 
philanthropic  note  than  a  demand  for  recognition  of  humanity 
both  in  its  perils  and  in  its  possibilities,  and  a  higher  estimate 
of  human  justice  as  affecting  internal  and  external  spiritual 
results.  Two  ethical  conceptions  have  measurably  been  kept 
together  thus  far :  "Manachildof  God,"  and  "The  Kingdom  of 
Heaven" ;  and  these  social  and  religious  elements  together  have 
pervaded  the  modern  pulpit  ethicism  up  to  now.  The  greatest 
strain  upon  modern  preaching,  both  in  theology  and  philan- 
thropy, lies  in  their  possible  severance.  There  is  little  in  the 
published  literature  of  the  pulpit  to  give  cause  for  such  alarm. 
The  recovery  of  some  form  of  the  older  passion  for  God  and 
personal  responsibility  for  destiny,  together  with  the  modern 
ethico-religious  grip  for  social  service  upon  man  in  his  depths 
and  heights  alike,  is  the  hope  for  the  coming  day. 


THE   MINISTER  AS   PASTOR 

Rev.  Lewellyn  Pratt,  D.D. 
Norwich,  Conn. 

One  would  like  to  be  able  to  record  the  pastoral  work  of 
graduates  of  Hartford  Seminary  during  these  seventy-five  years. 
It  would  be  a  record  surpassing  that  of  their  preaching.  Many 
a  one  who  has  held  an  inconspicuous  place  as  a  preacher  has 
given  full  proof  of  his  ministry  as  pastor  and  brought  forth  fruit 
that  abides.  The  fine  example  that  has  been  set,  the  word  in 
season  that  has  been  spoken,  the  misunderstanding  that  has  been 
adjusted,  the  hope  and  courage  that  have  been  kindled,  and  the 
tone  that  has  been  given  to  a  whole  community  by  the  faithful, 
fatherly  man,  who  as  the  chosen  pastor  and  guide  has  moved 
among  his  people  with  light  and  love  —  these  cannot  be  recorded 
here.  No  wonder  that  he  has  been  called  "the  parson"  —  the 
■person  by  way  of  eminence.  Many  a  one  has  known  intimately 
every  soul  in  his  parish,  has  been  recognized  as  the  trusted  friend 
of  all,  their  counselor  in  all  matters  spiritual  and  worldly,  and 
frequently  their  arbiter  in  disputes,  the  one  to  whom  they  have 
gone  in  times  of  trouble,  and  from  whom  they  have  sought  guid- 
ance in  all  their  plans  of  life.  Many  a  one  has  been  the  intellect- 
ual leader  of  his  people,  contributing  largely  to  the  broadening 
of  thought  and  the  developing  of  plans  for  the  social,  educational, 
and  political  improvement  of  the  community,  and  in  a  great 
measure  has  been  the  State's  best  moral  guardian.  Parents 
have  brought  their  children  to  him  not  only  to  be  named  in 
baptism,  but  to  receive  direction  from  him  and  to  have  ambi- 
tion stirred  by  his  wider  vision.  What  notable  names  in  State 
and  Church  testify  to  the  impulse  that  has  come  from  the  timely 
and  wise  advice  of  many  a  pastor ! 

The  fulfillment  of  that  highest  function  of  the  persona  ecclesia, 
the  one  who  is  set  apart  to  represent  vividly  and  personally  the  life 
of  the  church,  so  that  in  him  as  in  a  vital  focus  shall  be  embodied 
the  varied  forms  and  graces  of  spiritual  influence  and  power,  and 
to  send  these  out  again,  specialized  and  emphasized  through  his 

350 


THE   MINISTER   AS   PASTOR  351 

experience,  to  pervade  and  mold  and  assimilate  the  community 
in  which  he  is  placed,  gives  to  him  a  grand  and  magnificent  posi- 
tion among  men.  It  is  not  a  function  exclusively  the  minister's, 
but  it  is  peculiarly  his  by  virtue  of  his  appointment;  and  this 
embodiment  of  the  life  which  comes  from  Christ  through  the 
church,  and  this  making  it  a  fresh  and  effluent  power  in  the  church 
and  the  community,  is  the  grandest  office  ever  committed  to  man. 
This  office  is  not  performed  merely  in  public  speech  nor  in  the 
manipulation  of  certain  rites  and  forms;  it  is  the  subtler  and 
mightier  emanation  of  character  which  must  fulfill  it.  It  is  this 
embodiment  and  communication  of  spiritual  power  which  has 
educated,  inspired  the  church,  and  led  it  on  to  victory.  It  is  this 
assimilating  power  by  which  a  minister  puts  his  own  life  into  the 
church  and  makes  it  permanent  and  preeminent  there.  That 
is  the  true  idea  of  the  pastorate —  an  office  in  which  the  life  of 
Christ,  imparted  through  the  church,  centered  in  the  minister, 
is  redistributed  by  him  through  the  community  in  all  occasional 
and  minor  offices  as  well  as  from  the  pulpit,  in  all  the  offices 
of  sympathy,  in  personal  converse,  in  the  silent  and  constant 
effluence  of  character,  which  is  a  greater  force  than  any  force  of 
public  speech. 

Many  changes  have  come  to  modify  the  relation  of  pastor  and 
people.  A  marked  difference  between  the  pastor  of  the  old  time 
and  of  the  present  is  to  be  noted.  He  was  frequently  called 
"  priest " ;  and  as  he  moved  among  his  flock  he  maintained  a 
distinction  in  manner  and  dress  that  marked  him  as  one  "set 
apart."  A  pastor  undistinguished  from  others  in  outward 
appearance,  and  mingling  freely  with  his  people,  even  in  their 
games,  would  have  been  regarded  as  seriously  compromising  his 
dignity  and  hazarding  his  usefulness.  Many  of  us  can  recall  the 
way  in  which  a  minister  formerly  carried  himself,  the  prestige 
which  clothed  his  position,  the  authority  with  which  he  was  in- 
vested. We  are  then  reminded  that  no  such  sanctity  surrounds 
him  now,  that  he  has  been  stripped  of  all  that  prestige,  and  has  no 
such  authority  clothing  his  utterances.  A  change  has  taken  place ; 
and  while  it  may  involve  some  loss,  we  believe  that  on  the  whole 
it  secures  great  gain  to  the  true  and  earnest  man.  The  relation  is 
now  vastly  more  human  and  vastly  less  ecclesiastical  than  in  the 
past.  The  change  is  from  the  arbitrary  to  the  essential,  from  the 
artificial  to  the  natural.    The  minister  is  now  not  a  mere  function- 


352  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

ary,  not  a  mere  conductor  of  some  ceremonies,  not  the  mere  in- 
cumbent of  an  office,  but  a  man  among  men.  There  is  less 
temptation  to  act  a  part,  to  assume  a  sanctity,  to  claim  an  au- 
thority. There  is  a  better  authority  than  that  which  is  external, 
mechanical,  or  official ;  it  is  that  which  evokes  and  educates  and 
expands  the  spirit  of  those  who  come  under  its  sway;  which  does 
not  silence  and  stifle,  but  which  rouses  by  a  bond  of  fraternity  and 
kinship,  and  interprets  and  justifies  and  thrills  by  the  majesty  of 
the  reason,  and  which  comes  through  the  more  friendly  and 
personal  relation  which  the  minister  now  must  assume  and  hold. 
A  minister  now  may  be  thankful  that  he  is  permitted  to  move 
freely  among  men,  to  influence  them  by  example  and  contagion, 
and  is  not  called  to  be  separate  or  to  magnify  himself.  Like 
Ezekiel,  who,  by  being  called  more  than  eighty  times  "son  of 
man,"  was  reminded  that  he  should  not  be  elated  by  his  commis- 
sion, while  those  who  received  his  message  were  reminded  that  the 
message  was  not  Ezekiel's  but  God's ;  so  the  minister  is  to  have 
in  mind  that  he  is  not  superior  clay  and  cannot  lord  it  over  God's 
heritage,  but  that  "we  have  this  treasure  in  earthen  vessels,  that 
the  exceeding  greatness  of  the  power  may  be  of  God  and  not  from 
ourselves."  He  is  not  the  depository  of  truth  which  he  may  hold 
or  dole  out,  and  which  by  his  utterance  has  an  infallible  warrant, 
but  a  fellow-student  of  the  truth,  seeking  it  just  as  others  seek  it ; 
he  is  not  the  "church"  and  they  "the  people,"  but  a  fellow- 
learner  and  seeker  with  them.  His  is  simply  the  attitude  of  one 
who,  with  superior  opportunities,  receives  that  he  may  give,  and 
thus  guide  and  inspire  his  fellow-men  in  their  search  for  truth  and 
righteousness ;  he  is  one  who  influences  not  so  much  by  authority 
as  by  example  and  sympathy.  The  real  value  of  his  service  to  his 
people  will  be  found  in  his  personal  and  spiritual,  rather  than  in 
his  official  and  ecclesiastical  relations  to  them.  His  usefulness 
among  them  will  be  due  not  to  any  process  by  which  he  is  elevated 
above  them  or  separated  from  them,  but  to  a  character  which  in 
its  fullest  sense  he  shares  with  them.  "  If  the  mind  of  Christ  is  in 
him,  his  word  will  be  with  power,  no  matter  how  little  claim  he 
makes  to  superior  dignity.  Christ  taught, '  as  one  having  authority, 
but  not  as  the  scribes.'  His  ministry  in  all  its  phases  derived  its 
efficacy,  not  from  the  law  of  carnal  commandment,  but  from  the 
power  of  an  endless  life;  and  the  ministry  of  every  true  pastor 
will  draw  its  power  from  the  same  source"  (Gladden). 


THE   MINISTER   AS    PASTOR  353 

The  development  of  the  idea  of  the  church  as  a  working  body 
and  its  organization  in  various  societies  to  accomplish  its  tasks 
have  also  changed  the  relation  between  pastor  and  people.  In 
the  working  out  of  this  idea,  no  doubt,  the  tendency  has  been  to 
multiply  organizations  unduly  and  to  set  up  machinery  with  the 
false  conception  that  machinery  creates  power;  and  the  pastor 
has  reason  to  feel  that  he  has  to  come  to  his  people  too  much  as  the 
executive  head  of  various  societies  rather  than  as  a  personal  friend 
and  counselor.  Formerly  his  pastoral  calls  were  for  religious 
consultation,  and  he  had  the  freedom  of  the  home  because,  like 
the  doctor,  became  to  meet  an  actual  need  of  advice,  or  sympathy, 
or  instruction.  To-day  he  comes  as  the  executive  of  a  compli- 
cated system,  to  enlist  members  in  the  organization  and  to  make 
plans  for  the  working  of  its  machinery.  In  prodding  careless  or 
forgetful  members  of  its  various  societies,  or  committees,  or  clubs, 
he  seems  too  often  to  become  little  more  than  the  messenger  of  the 
court  serving  a  summons.  How  often  he  envies  Peter  when  he 
refused  to  serve  tables !  He  is  distracted  by  the  multiplicity  of 
separate  organizations  that  he  must  keep  going  and  of  which 
he  must  be  the  chief  engineer,  and  is  often  reminded  of  the  truths, 
so  clearly  brought  out  by  President  Garfield  in  his  admirable  ad- 
dress on  ''The  Limitation  of  Organization,"  as  he  finds  himself 
engrossed  in  the  attempt  to  "make  the  wheels  go  round." 

But  here,  too,  we  must  not  overlook  the  great  advance  that  has 
been  made  by  the  theory  of  the  church  as  a  working  body,  formed 
not  mainly  of  those  who  seek  forever  to  be  fed  and  ministered  unto, 
but  of  men  and  women  working  together  to  extend  the  Kingdom 
of  God,  and  that  the  function  of  the  pastor  to  distribute  the  grace 
and  power  he  receives  may  be  best  performed  by  multiplying 
himself  through  a  working  church  and  thus  applying  in  the 
various  ramifications  of  society  and  life  the  impulse  which  he  may 
impart.  In  the  past  the  minister  was  expected  to  be  the  work- 
ing force,  now  the  emphasis  is  changed  to  a  working  church 
under  the  inspiring  lead  of  a  capable  head.  It  is  a  higher 
conception,  and  the  church  which  has  attained  to  this  view  of  its 
vocation  will  expect  and  demand  leadership  in  the  choice  and 
maintenance  of  its  pastor,  and  he  must  recognize  this  view  and 
welcome  the  change. 

Fortunately  there  lingers  in  all  our  parishes  high  esteem  for  the 
ministerial  ofl&ce.    The  old-time  ministerial  dress  and  the  old- 


354  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

lime  awe  of  the  parson  have  gone,  but  the  old-time  respect  for 
the  man  and  his  office  remains.  This  is  a  living  witness  to  the 
good  character,  the  kindly  spirit,  and  the  faithful  service  in 
the  past  which  has  given  to  the  profession  the  confidence  of  the 
people  and  the  recognition  of  the  need  and  the  dignity  of  the 
office.  This  appreciation  may  well  suggest  that  it  be  guarded 
against  being  overloaded  with  mere  business  management, 
and  that  there  be  in  our  churches  helpers  —  in  some,  pastor's 
assistants,  in  all,  brotherhoods  —  that  may  relieve  the  pastor  of 
much  detail  and  enable  him  to  give  his  strength  to  personal 
ministry  in  all  the  manifold  ways  in  which  his  people  need 
spiritual  service. 

The  attention  that  has  been  given  of  late  years  to  the  study  of 
child-life  and  the  best  methods  of  training  and  nurture  is  a  hope- 
ful stage  of  progress,  and  opens  to  the  pastor  of  the  present  day  a 
most  inspiring  and  promising  field  for  his  best  endeavors.  In 
his  commission  to  Peter,  the  Great  Master  made  the  test  of  his 
affection  and  loyalty  the  nurture  he  should  give  to  the  lambs  of 
the  flock.  This  duty  has  been  more  or  less  neglected  since  the 
revulsion  from  the  days  of  formal  instruction  in  the  definitions  of 
the  catechism,  but  it  is  being  emphasized  by  the  religious  and 
scientific  thought  of  the  day.  It  is  being  recognized  that  here  is 
the  most  imperative  and  encouraging  place  for  the  pastor's  own 
work,  that  he  should  fit  himself  for  it,  and  be  jealous  of  anything 
which  stands  in  the  way  of  that  intimate  acquaintance  and  pas- 
toral care  and  training  which  he  owes  to  the  children.  Perhaps 
there  never  was  a  time  when  the  children  of  our  churches  so  much 
needed  the  instruction  and  guidance  of  their  pastors.  Faithful 
souls  are  feeling  that  this  cannot  be  delegated  to  others,  and 
it  will  be  a  glad  and  fruitful  day  when  this  view  becomes  preva- 
lent, and  each  minister  becomes  the  true  pastor  of  the  children. 

The  progress  of  Christ's  Church  in  this  missionary  age  with  its 
wide  outlook  and  its  signal  successes,  gives  to  every  pastor  a  new 
dignity,  and  to  his  personal  appeal  an  added  force  and  claim.  He 
moves  among  his  people  as  the  ambassador  of  the  King  of  all  the 
earth,  who  is  not  now  simply  asking  for  a  place,  but  is  assuming 
His  dominion  over  all  peoples.  There  should  be  now  a  change 
corresponding  to  that  among  the  disciples  after  Pentecost,  and  the 
appeal  should  be  not  merely  to  a  promise,  but  to  a  fact.  The  posi- 
tive note  has  been  struck.      The  pastor  can  move  with  certainty, 


THE   MINISTER   AS   PASTOR  355 

for  Christ  has  come,  as  He  said.  The  promise  has  been  veri- 
fied, and  the  pastor  of  the  present  day  is  the  accredited  agent  of  a 
court  that  has  won  its  place,  the  representative  of  a  cause  that  is 
sure  to  triumph.  He  can  appeal  to  the  strong  and  educated  and 
enterprising  to  enlist  themselves  in  that  which  has  proved  itself 
worthy  of  all  acceptance,  great  enough  to  employ  the  highest 
talent  any  one  possesses.  It  is  not  merely  that  men  are  urged  to 
save  themselves  or  to  connect  themselves  with  the  local  church, 
but  that  they  may  have  a  share  in  saving  the  world.  This  has 
always  been  the  appeal;  but  there  is  added  force  as  new  fields 
are  opening,  as  the  issues  are  being  more  clearly  defined,  as  the 
world  everywhere  is  stirring  with  new  life.  There  is  a  call  for  all 
the  high  qualities,  for  all  chivalry  and  valor,  for  heroism,  for 
everything  manly  and  magnanimous.  In  the  work  of  covering 
the  waste  places,  in  correcting  abuses,  in  lifting  up  public  opinion ; 
in  the  elevation  and  development  of  humanity,  there  is  manifest 
scope  for  the  greatest  talent,  for  chivalrous  ardor  and  heroic 
devotion  —  and  these  not  in  some  small  circle,  but  for  the  whole 
race,  for  the  brotherhood  of  man. 

This  is  a  great  day  for  the  pastor  of  a  Christian  church,  more 
hopeful,  more  assured  than  any  that  has  gone  before;  "the 
night  is  far  spent,  the  day  is  at  hand!"  Blessed  is  he  who  is 
called  to  the  Kingdom  for  such  a  time  as  this,  who  is  permitted  to 
be  a  pastor  as  a  man  among  men,  aided  by  a  church  organized  for 
work,  forecasting  the  future  in  the  youth  given  him  to  train  for 
service,  and  cheered  by  the  outlook  of  the  conquest  of  the  world 
for  Christ ! 


CHURCH  ADMINISTRATION 

Professor  George  Walter  Fiske,  M.A.,  B.D. 

Oberlin  Theological  Seminary 

The  term  "  Church  Administration  "  is  new,  and  its  adop- 
tion from  the  world  of  business  suggests  the  direction  of  the 
progress,  as  well  as  its  cause.  Its  course  is  parallel  to  con- 
temporary industrial  progress.  The  technical  term  implies 
that  the  church  has  business  to  be  administered.  An  evolution 
in  the  popular  conception  of  what  is  the  church's  business  has 
caused  the  progress  in  church  administration. 

The  church's  own  vision  of  its  mission  has  been  expanding. 
Three  generations  ago  it  limited  its  business  to  saving  souls,  and 
generally  the  souls  that  were  nearest.  Its  activities  were  quite 
exclusively  spiritual  and  its  field  usually  narrow.  The  organi- 
zaX'ion  of  the  church  was  as  simple  as  its  interpretation  of  its 
mission.     Even  its  architecture  revealed  this. 

Gradually  the  church  began  to  notice  the  mental  and  physical 
needs  of  men,  and  very  tardily  the  civic  and  collective  needs  of 
society.  The  new  monistic  psychology,  with  its  proof  of  the 
interaction  of  the  physical,  mental,  and  spiritual,  has  taught  us 
that  man  is  more  than  a  soul  tenanting  a  body — that  he  is  a  com- 
plex unity,  and  must  be  saved  in  body,  mind,  and  spirit  in  order 
to  be  fully  redeemed.  The  new  humanism  has  taught  us  that 
nothing  is  secular.  The  newhumanitarianismhas  broadened  our 
social  sympathies  until  the  church  dare  not  deny  its  responsibility, 
direct  or  indirect,  for  the  welfare  of  humanity  in  any  vital  need. 
Its  mission  is  as  broad  as  the  needs  of  the  race,  and  its  business  is 
to  do  the  work  left  undone  by  other  agencies ;  to  prevent  needless 
pain,  suffering,  ignorance,  degeneracy,  and  sin — not  to  duplicate 
social  machinery  anywhere,  but  to  furnish  it  where  needed,  to 
supplement  it  when  ineffective,  and  everywhere  to  be  the  dynamic 
for  human  welfare  and  progress,  the  power-house  for  generating 
inspiration,  courage,  intelligent  consecration  in  every  sort  of 

356 


CHURCH   ADMINISTRATION  357 

secondary  agency  for  human  welfare.  The  spiritual  must  ever 
be  the  climax  of  all  religious  endeavor;  but  the  work  of  the 
modern  church  is  more  than  saving  souls. 

Progress  in  church  administration  has  naturally  followed  this 
broadening  ideal  of  the  church's  mission.  When  only  the  soul's 
welfare  was  considered  worth  minding,  and  religious  activities 
were  limited  to  the  spiritual,  the  minister  was  priest,  pastor, 
preacher,  sometimes  prophet,  but  seldom  administrator.  He 
would  have  eschewed  so  secular  a  term,  as  savoring  of  the 
worldly  life  and  inconsistent  with  his  sacred  calling.  But  a 
broadening  field  of  usefulness  has  opened  to  the  pastor-bishop 
with  the  passing  of  the  years.  The  church,  of  course,  has  always 
had  master-minds  more  modern  than  their  age,  who  have  antici- 
pated progress.  In  attempting  to  generalize  from  such  diverse 
particulars  and  to  describe  tendencies  in  the  church's  progress, 
let  us  not  forget  the  men  of  initiative  whose  vision  made  the  prog- 
ress possible.  We  are  speaking  here,  not  of  isolated  cases,  but 
of  the  general  movement. 

Again,  the  progress  in  church  administration  has  paralleled  the 
social  and  industrial  progress  of  the  nation.  These  three  genera- 
tions have  witnessed  three  stages  of  social  evolution.  We  may 
style  them,  for  convenience,  the  simple,  the  complex,  and  the  in- 
tricate. American  life  in  the  early  thirties  was  hardly  out  of  the 
age  of  homespun.  We  were  a  nation  of  villages,  93%  rural,  and 
our  business  was  mainly  home  industries.  Capitalist  and  laborer 
were  chums  at  the  same  bench.  It  was  an  era  of  simplicity  in 
social,  industrial,  and  religious  life.  There  was  little  demand  for 
resourcefulness  or  individuality  in  the  minister,  and  little  need 
of  the  church  executive. 

But  soon  came  the  day  of  the  small  manufacturer,  and  then  of 
the  joint-stock  company.  The  village  became  the  prosperous 
factory-town.  In  arithmetical  progression  the  social  structure 
developed  in  complexity,  and  gradually  the  church's  burdens  of 
opportunity  and  responsibility  for  human  welfare  increased. 

The  last  generation  has  witnessed  an  industrial  revolution  ap- 
proaching a  social  crisis.  It  is  the  era  of  giant  cities,  full-grown 
in  a  mere  decade.  It  is  the  day  of  the  great  corporation,  the 
centralization  of  wealth  and  industrial  power.  We  read  of  rail- 
road mergers,  industrial  coalitions,  bank  consolidations,  and 
the  "trustification"  of  nearly  all  industries.     Social  relations  are 


358  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

increasing  in  intricacy  in  geometrical  ratio,  and  even  the  churches 
are  threatened  with  over-organization. 

The  evolution  of  the  church's  ideal  of  service,  and  its  response 
to  the  changing  time-spirit,  is  faithfully  reflected  in  the  changing 
architecture  of  these  three  periods,  the  simple,  the  complex,  and 
the  intricate.  We  may  thus  interpret  the  familiar  evolutionary 
series :  the  colonial  meeting-house,  the  Gothic  house  of  worship 
with  its  vestry  beneath  or  adjoining,  and  the  modern  church 
with  its  parish  house.  A  single  church  may  serve  for  illustration. 
The  first  Broadway  Tabernacle  was  built  the  year  Hartford 
Seminary  was  founded.  It  was  a  vast  auditorium,  focusing  at  the 
pulpit.  The  second  building  was  the  usual  Gothic  structure  of 
the  period.  The  present  Tabernacle  has  the  most  beautiful  and 
worshipful  auditorium  of  the  three,  plus  a  nine-story  parish  house 
splendidly  equipped  for  its  broadly  efficient  ministry.  Each 
building  has  well  served  its  generation. 

Many  a  city  church,  however,  is  still  conducted  on  country 
church  lines,  with  grudging  response  to  changed  conditions, 
with  the  single  pastorate  still,  and  traditional  methods,  and 
church  machinery  geared  to  the  slow-moving  past  decades;  but 
conspicuously  successful  churches  are  suiting  method  to  environ- 
ment and  thus  are  meeting  the  demands  of  the  age. 

With  a  new  insistence  the  present  age  is  demanding  of  the 
church  a  better  adjustment  to  environment,  a  more  courageous 
moral  leadership,  social  redemption  as  well  as  individual  salva- 
tion, Christian  brotherliness,  with  all  that  it  implies,  and  a  higher 
degree  of  efficiency  consistent  with  the  spirit  of  the  times.  We 
are  living  in  an  age  that  does  things.  Achieving  often  the 
seemingly  impossible,  its  masterful  spirit  has  little  patience  with 
puttering  inefficiency  in  men  or  institutions.  The  successful 
Yankee  is  a  bit  impatient,  and  thinks  his  church  must  keep  the 
pace,  and  no  longer  ride  the  camel  of  the  Magi,  or  ply  the  distaff 
of  the  homespun  age ;  or  be  content  with  a  beggarly  two  per  cent 
spiritual  dividend  on  its  great  capital  of  vested  property,  and 
latent  human  energies,  and  unutilized  human  talents,  and  un- 
touched springs  of  vast  unappreciated  influence,  and  splendid 
reservoirs  of  untapped  brotherly  comradeship. 

In  response  to  this  increasing  demand  for  efficiency,  there  have 
been  developed  some  very  effective  church  organizations.  Minis- 
tering to  the  complex  needs  of  congested  city  parishes,  there  are 


CHURCH   ADMINISTRATION  359 

great  modern  institutions,  like  St.  George's  in  New  York,  with 
its  great  variety  of  ministries  and  its  large  corps  of  paid 
workers;  and  the  Baptist  Temple  in  Philadelphia,  with  its 
church  hospital  and  people's  college  numbering  several  thousand 
students. 

Located  in  less  needy  fields,  other  churches  are  centers  of 
inspiration  and  light  and  missionary  helpfulness,  whose  charity, 
needed  less  at  home,  is  generously  administered  far  and  wide. 
There  are  hundreds  of  smaller,  but  proportionately  successful 
churches,  both  rural  and  urban,  wisely  administered  and  highly 
efficient,  by  intelligent  specialization  fitting  the  specific  activi- 
ties of  the  parish  to  specific  local  needs,  resulting  in  Christly 
character,  wholesome  homes,  and  right-hearted  citizenship. 

In  general,  the  complexity  of  church  administration  has  varied 
with  the  attempts  of  the  church  to  do  directly  or  indirectly  the 
needed  social-service  work  in  the  community.  There  are  three 
varieties  of  policy  possible.  The  Roman  Church  sanctions  no 
secondary  agencies,  but  directly  administers  religious  hospitals, 
parochial  schools  and  colleges,  orphan  asylums,  and  even  fraternal 
orders.  By  so  doing  she  has  dictated  or  deflected  social  move- 
ments and  has  gained  great  prestige  as  a  social-service  benefactor 
of  the  highest  rank ;  and  in  the  process  has  developed  a  splendidly 
effective  administration,  intricate  in  organization  and  autocratic 
in  authority. 

The  Protestant  policy  has  been  quite  the  opposite.  Consistent 
with  its  narrowly  spiritual  conception  of  the  church's  mission, 
it  has  done  its  very  generous  philanthropic  work,  not  as  churches, 
but  through  secondary  agencies  which  have  owed  their  inspiration 
and  support  directly  to  the  church  and  its  members.  The  chari- 
table work  is  done,  but  the  church  receives  little  recognition  or 
credit  for  its  great  share  in  the  process,  and  by  comparison  suffers 
in  prestige  and  influence. 

Some  modern  churches,  however,  are  finding  it  necessary,  in 
certain  environments,  to  do  directly  certain  forms  of  welfare 
work,  to  supplement  defective  secondary  agencies.  But  institu- 
tional churches  are  still  rare,  and  usually  their  cost  is  prohibitive. 
Moreover,  many  democratic  churches  congregationally  governed 
would  probably  not  develop  the  degree  of  cooperation,  or  sub- 
serviency, found  in  autocratic  churches,  sufficient  to  administer 
hospitals,  asylums,  and  schools.     At  least,  with  meager  resources 


360  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

and  few  paid  workers  (usually  but  one),  the  work  is  at  present  im- 
practicable for  most  churches. 

There  is  a  third  possibility,  which  is  an  effective  compromise 
between  Roman  absorption  of  such  philanthropic  work  and 
Protestant  institutional  neglect  of  it.  Progress  in  church  ad- 
ministration will  make  possible  the  control  of  such  agencies  for 
human  welfare  by  trustees  representative  of  the  various  local 
churches,  to  the  mutual  advantage  of  the  churches  and  of  these 
auxiliaries  which  must  always  depend  largely  upon  the  church 
membership  for  inspiration  and  support. 

The  record  of  progress,  it  must  frankly  be  acknowledged,  is  all 
too  meager.  In  this  commercial  age,  with  its  remarkable  busi- 
ness talent,  the  church  too  often  lags  behind.  Too  often  there  is 
a  lack  of  courageous  initiative  in  the  minister  and  of  intelligent 
cooperation  among  his  laymen.  We  are  reminded  of  the  times 
when  long  pastorates  sometimes  developed  bishop-pastors 
with  vast  powers  of  leadership,  in  spite  of  their  limited  range  of 
social  opportunity,  and  when  loyal  laymen  were  reasonably  free 
from  business  burdens.  Our  hope  for  future  progress  rests  with 
expert  pastors  who  shall  revive  the  function  of  the  local  bishop  and 
train  and  direct  their  laymen,  that  the  difficult  work  of  the  modern 
church  may  be  effectively  administered. 

Theoretically,  every  pastor  of  a  congregational  or  independent 
church  is  a  local  bishop.  But,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  bishop 
function  in  many  cases  has  become  atrophied  from  disuse.  We 
have  largely  interpreted  this  function  to  mean  simply  the 
spiritual  oversight  of  souls,  caring  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of 
individuals.  This  is,  of  course,  its  most  intimate  element,  but 
it  is  not  the  whole  of  it.  The  true  bishop  is  an  administrator 
as  well  as  a  curate.  Foreign  missionaries  illustrate  this  function 
better.  They  are  directing  the  work  of  many  helpers.  In  many 
a  mission  station  a  bishop-minister  is  overseeing  the  labors  of 
two  score  or  more  native  workers,  and  great  efficiency  results. 
The  trained  minister  thus  multiplies  himself. 

Likewise  in  the  home  pastorate  the  work  of  the  local  bishop  is 
greatly  needed.  Progress  in  church  administration  demands  it. 
In  addition  to  the  spiritual  oversight  of  individuals,  let  it  mean 
also  the  marshaling  of  lay  forces,  the  training  of  lay  workers, 
encouraging  and  enlisting  all  the  church-members  who  are  willing 
to  become  recruits  in  the  pastor's  force  instead  of  mere  proto- 


CHURCH   ADMINISTRATION  361 

plasm  in  his  field .  Let  us  revive  the  function  of  the  local  bishop  — 
in  other  words,  the  training  and  directing  of  laymen  in  religious 
work  by  trained  pastors  who  are  experts  in  administration.  Even 
in  a  layman's  church,  this  function  cannot  safely  be  abandoned ; 
but  let  it  be  exercised  in  democratic  fashion,  by  a  true  pastor- 
bishop,  fitted  by  nature  and  by  special  training  tactfully  and 
effectively  to  administer  the  work  of  a  single  parish. 

We  do  not  overlook  the  fact  that  scores  of  conspicuously  suc- 
cessful modern  churches  can  be  cited  as  illustrations  of  the  appli- 
cation of  business  principles  to  religion,  with  wise  subdivision 
of  skilled  labor,  conserving  assets  and  avoiding  waste  and  friction, 
with  the  spirit  of  eager  enterprise,  of  tactful  generalship,  and 
loyal,  disciplined  cooperation.  But  many  another  church  has 
not  yet  found  its  best  efficiency  in  administration.  It  is  still 
listening  passively  to  the  voice  of  the  past,  simply  hearing  things 
said,  and  lazily  trusting  God  to  get  things  done.  Such  churches 
are  ineffective  because,  like  a  crew  of  workmen,  resting  in  the 
shade  while  their  overseer  is  gone,  they  have  no  bishop.  The 
bishop  function  in  their  pastor  has  been  relegated  to  innocuous 
desuetude,  overshadowed  by  the  preacher  function.  "  Plenty  of 
talk,  but  little  doing"  has  been  the  popular  condemnation  of  this 
sort  of  a  church  by  business  men. 

The  difficulty  of  enlisting  lay  workers  is  partly  due  to  their  lack 
of  specific  training.  People  who  are  highly  paid,  skilled  laborers 
or  trained  professional  men  six  days  in  the  week,  —  experts  at 
something,  anything  you  please,  from  baking  bread  to  making 
a  brief,  —  will  not  willingly  enlist  in  the  unskilled  ranks  of  church 
blunderers,  without  some  opportunity  to  satisfy  their  own  critical 
judgment  and  to  attain  their  own  high  standard  of  service  through 
some  course  of  special  training.  This  arduous  duty  is  more  and 
more  falling  upon  the  shoulders  of  the  ministry,  the  duty  of 
training  the  laymen  for  the  increasingly  difficult  work  of  the 
church.  It  means  often  an  unwelcome  task  for  the  pastor- 
bishop  to  stop  and  train  his  laymen;  but  until  he  does  so  he  will 
have  to  bear  most  of  the  burdens  himself,  which  means  needless 
nerve-strain  and  j)remature  age  for  the  pastor,  and  slow  success 
for  a  half-effective  church.  In  proportion  as  ministers  realize 
the  possibilities  of  a  cooperating  force  of  trained  laymen  for 
transforming  a  church  and  dividing  a  minister's  burdens,  will 
they  set  about  it  at  all  hazards,  and  at  almost  any  sacrifice  of  time 


362  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

and  effort,  to  train  their  laymen  and  their  young  people  for  the 
future  welfare  of  the  church. 

Let  the  local  bishop  come  back ;  back  to  the  forefront  in  the 
pastor's  work,  as  he  selects  his  best  material  for  helpers,  trains 
them  for  their  special  service,  and  superintends  and  inspires  their 
efforts.  Then  much  of  the  minister's  time,  which  now  seems 
wasted,  frittered  away  over  trifles,  will  be  saved  for  other  duties, 
as  this  detail  work  is  delegated  to  his  corps  of  volunteer  lay  helpers, 
while  he  thus  multiplies  his  usefulness  through  his  administrative 
work,  directing  the  services  of  the  many.  Soon  may  it  be  said 
no  longer  that  the  minister  is  the  only  professional  man  who  is  his 
own  office-boy — that  in  no  other  business  is  a  two-thousand-dollar 
man  suffered  to  do,  and  do  frequently,  the  work  which  could 
be  hired  done  at  twenty  cents  per  hour.  Not  that  the  minister 
should  feel  above  the  work ;  but  it  is  simply  an  economic  waste. 
He  has  more  important  work  to  do,  like  the  manager  of  any  enter- 
prise to  whom  is  committed  grave  responsibilities  and  only  a 
twenty-four-hour  day. 

The  specific  needs,  in  detail,  for  the  training  of  laymen,  cannot 
be  mentioned  here.  They  will  differ  widely  in  different  fields. 
Adaptation  to  local  conditions  will  be  the  constant  endeavor. 
But  whatever  may  be  the  specific  local  need,  in  every  democratic 
church  there  is  a  distinct  need  of  the  local  pastor-bishop  to  plan 
and  administer  the  work  of  his  church.  He  must  be  recognized 
as  the  church  specialist.  He  is  the  expert  undisputedly  in  The- 
ology and  Biblical  Interpretation.  Let  him  also  be  recognized  as 
the  expert  in  church  administration,  in  church  finance,  in  religious 
pedagogy,  and  everything  else  in  his  field.  If  he  is  not,  let  him 
speedily  become  such,  for  it  is  a  vital  part  of  his  life-business. 
An  occasional  crisis,  like  a  debt-raising  campaign,  or  a  serious 
vacancy  in  his  Sunday-school  superintendency,  or  any  other 
special  emergency,  may  demand  his  personal  service  in  these 
details  which  properly  belong  to  laymen;  but  only  once.  Let 
him  do  it  once,  if  need  be.  Thereafter  he  is  to  blame,  if  he  does 
not  develop  laymen  to  do  this  work,  training  them  by  the  most  ap- 
proved modern  methods,  with  minimum  of  friction  and  maximum 
of  efficiency. 


EVANGELISM 

Rev.  Edwin  Hallock  Byington 
Dane  Street  Congregational  Church,  Beverly,  Mass. 

Taking  evangelism  as  the  effort  to  secure  an  acknowledg- 
ment by  individuals  of  a  personal  faith  in  Christ  and  allegiance 
to  Him,  it  is  evident  that  the  very  existence  of  the  Visible  Church 
depends  upon  it,  for  the  ranks  depleted  by  death  and  desertion 
must  be  recruited  by  such  enlistments.  It  is  also  plain  that 
evangelism  is  a  function  of  almost  every  branch  of  the  Church's 
life  and  secures  its  results  in  many  different  ways. 

This  paper  is  limited  to  the  evangelistic  activity  of  American 
Protestantism  during  the  last  seventy-five  years,  and  to  that  phase 
commonly  embraced  in  the  term  "revival."  Compared  with  the 
whole  evangelistic  fruitage  since  1834,  this  constitutes  a  small, 
but  distinct  and  important  portion.  This  type  of  evangelism 
is  usually  characterized  by  a  multiplication  of  meetings  and 
a  concentration  of  effort,  with  the  avowed  expectation  of  secur- 
ing immediate  and  definite  conversions.  Jonathan  Edwards, 
in  a  way,  may  be  called  the  father  of  the  movement  as  we  are 
familiar  with  it,  though  kindred  forms  have  appeared  in  other 
ages  and  lands,  and  even  in  other  religions. 

The  period  under  survey  begins  with  Finney  at  the  height  of 
his  evangelistic  power,  and  discloses  during  the  entire  seventy- 
five  years  a  very  definite  development.  Fluctuations,  of  course, 
appear,  but  the  general  trend  is  steadily  in  one  direction.  This 
development  is  due  to  many  causes :  to  new  views  in  theology, 
to  the  multiplication  of  auxiliary  organizations  within  the 
church,  to  new  factors  in  education,  to  immigration,  to  the 
presence  of  new  social  and  industrial  forces,  to  a  wide- 
spread lessening  in  the  expression  of  feeling,  to  the  waning 
j)Owcr  of  mass-meetings,  as  appears  also  in  political  campaigns, 
and  to  other  factors.  The  modification  of  the  revival  is  not 
an  eddy  in  the  current  of  American  life,  but  is  part  of  it,  and 

363 


364  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

only  a  narrow  mind  will  attribute  these  changes  to  any  one 
cause.  Whether  they  are  for  better  or  for  worse,  whether  wel- 
come or  unwelcome,  in  their  important  features  they  have  been 
inevitable,  being  adaptations  to  the  ever-changing  spirit  of  the 
age. 

The  Origin.  —  Evangelistic  movements  usually  spring  from 
one  of  three  sources:  either  from  the  influence  of  some  com- 
manding personality,  or  from  a  spontaneous  impulse  of  the  people, 
or  from  a  desire  for  the  results  which  prompts  an  organized 
campaign.  During  the  past  seventy-five  years  there  has  ap- 
peared a  drift  from  the  first  two  types  to  the  third.  We  have 
strong  men,  like  Chapman,  Dawson,  and  Torrey,  and  also 
earnest  and  enthusiastic  communities,  but  the  evangelists 
work  only  on  invitation  from  the  churches,  and  insist  on  general 
cooperation  and  elaborate  organization.  We  have  no  Finneys 
to-day,  because  such  men  could  not  do  the  work.  Moody,  whose 
career  came  in  the  middle  of  the  period  under  survey,  illus- 
trates both  phases  and  marks  the  transition;  for,  while  his 
personality  was  a  great  factor,  he  inaugurated  and  established 
in  essentially  its  present  form  the  organized  revival.  The  recent 
great  revival  in  Wales  was  of  the  earlier  types,  both  a  leading 
personality  and  popular  upspringing  of  interest  being  con- 
spicuous factors ;  but  in  this  country  nothing  of  the  sort  on  any 
considerable  scale  has  appeared  in  a  long  time.  We  have 
passed  from  personality  to  plan,  from  spontaneity  to  system. 

Entirely  erroneous  is  the  opinion  that  this  proves  a  decadence 
in  spirituality.  The  Holy  Spirit  operates  through  judgment 
as  well  as  through  impulse,  through  the  cooperation  of  many  as 
well  as  through  the  dominance  of  one.  If  order  is  heaven's  first 
law,  system  surely  is  an  admirable  channel  for  divine  influence. 
The  children  of  the  light  should  not  be  charged  with  deterio- 
ration when  they  take  up  Christ's  suggestion  concerning  the 
value  of  the  wisdom  of  the  children  of  this  world.  Less  and 
less  do  the  enterprises  of  this  day  rely  on  the  power  of  one  per- 
sonality, or  on  waves  of  popular  interest,  to  draw  and  inspire 
a  following.  It  is  the  institutional  spirit  and  method  that  is 
the  magnet  and  molder  everywhere.  In  accord  with  the  tem- 
per of  the  times,  the  revival  has  become  more  institutional,  but 
not  necessarily  less  spiritual. 

The  Motives.  —  When  we  come  to  consider  the  motives  pre- 


EVANGELISM  365 

scnted  to  persuade  men  to  avow  a  Christian  faith,  as  marked 
a  transition  appears.  In  the  earlier  years  the  great  appeals 
were  of  danger  and  salvation.  The  unbeliever  was  urged  to 
accept  the  Christian  life  that  he  might  be  saved  from  the  wrath 
of  God,  from  punishment,  from  hell,  from  sin;  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  that  he  might  secure  forgiveness,  peace,  and  eternal  hap- 
piness hereafter.  This  was  the  conspicuous  appeal,  but  as 
time  went  on,  it  did  not  retain  its  supremacy.  These  motives 
are  still  presented  in  some  missions  and  by  some  evangelists,  but 
are  less  and  less  prominent;  and,  in  a  recent  large  and  most 
successful  evangelistic  campaign,  they  were  scarcely  noticeable. 

With  their  decadence  have  arisen  into  correspondingly  in- 
creasing prominence  the  appeals  of  duty  and  service.  Em- 
phasis is  placed  on  the  duty  of  a  creature  to  his  Creator,  of  a 
subject  to  his  Sovereign,  of  a  child  to  his  Father,  and  of  all  to 
a  Saviour  who  gave  Himself  in  sacrifice  for  us.  The  claims  upon 
us  of  honor  and  courage,  of  true  manhood  and  womanhood,  are 
exalted,  and  also  our  responsibility  for  children  and  friends 
who  will  be  influenced  by  us,  and  for  the  church  that  needs  us. 
New  and  larger  opportunities  for  service  to  humanity,  and  for 
participation  in  establishing  the  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth,  are 
offered.  The  call  is  more  a  summons  to  war  than  an  invitation 
to  a  feast.  These  are  the  appeals  that  are  presented  with  the 
most  frequency  and  force  at  the  close  of  this  period.  The  mo- 
tives they  seek  to  arouse  are  certainly  higher  and  nobler,  altruis- 
tic rather  than  selfish.  The  keynote  has  changed  from  danger 
to  duty,  from  salvation  to  service.  There  is  less  minor  music 
in  it,  more  of  the  trumpet-call. 

The  new  motives  are  nobler,  but  less  intense.  A  man  will  run 
faster  from  danger  than  to  service.  No  fireman  feels  the  thrill 
that  possesses  a  man  whose  house  is  on  fire.  The  appeal  is  less 
personal,  less  dramatic,  and  men  are  not  stirred  as  of  old.  The 
absence  of  religious  arousement  proves  not  that  the  Gospel  has 
been  emasculated,  nor  that  man's  worldliness  has  devitalized  his 
religious  nature,  but  that  anxiety  concerning  his  own  peril  or 
gain  has  yielded  to  a  quiet  earnestness  for  others'  welfare.  This 
change  has  brought  both  gain  and  loss  —  gain  in  giving  a  new 
nobility  to  conversion,  loss  in  being  less  able  to  reach  the  lower 
natures  that  do  not  respond  so  readily  to  the  higher  motives. 

The  Emotions.  —  In  all  evangelistic  campaigns  the  citadel 


366  RECENT  CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

whose  capture  is  sought  is  the  will.  The  victory  is  won  when 
the  convert  says  "I  will."  In  this  battle  the  mind  is  used  as  an 
ally  in  the  presentation  of  motives;  but  the  cooperation  of  the 
emotions  also  is  sought.  This  is  perfectly  legitimate  and  de- 
sirable, if  not  abused.  The  will  can  be  carried  to  higher  points 
by  the  emotional  nature,  especially  under  the  impulse  of  love, 
than  in  any  other  way.  During  this  period  the  atmosphere  of 
the  evangelistic  meeting  has  become  very  different  because  of  a 
change,  both  in  degree  and  kind,  of  the  feelings  awakened  and 
expressed.  As  already  stated,  emotional  intensity  has  been 
lessened  by  a  change  in  the  motives  presented.  Furthermore, 
the  element  of  excitement  has  been  largely  eliminated  by  the 
absence  of  the  contagion  of  the  crowd-spirit.  During  the  last 
half  of  the  years  under  consideration,  the  unity  which  makes 
possible  excited  enthusiasm  has  decreased  in  all  kinds  of  as- 
semblies in  this  country.  The  cheering  in  political  conventions 
has  become  a  purely  artificial  prolongation  of  applause  to  be 
measured  by  minutes.  Our  public  audiences  are  undemonstra- 
tive, far  more  so  than  in  England  or  in  any  other  country.  Sel- 
dom now  in  any  gathering  are  men  fused  into  a  unity,  moved 
and  molded  by  one  spirit  —  a  condition  made  possible  only  by  the 
emotions,  and  in  turn  quickening  them.  In  harmony  with 
this  temper  of  the  times,  each  person  in  a  revival  meeting  retains 
his  self-consciousness,  and  acts,  not  as  a  part  of  the  crowd,  but 
as  an  individual.  His  feelings  may  be  strong,  but  they  are 
personal  and  not  contagious.  That  ardor,  intensity,  excitement, 
which  only  an  emotionally  unified  crowd  can  possess  and  display, 
is  lacking  to-day  and  is  impossible.  Consequently,  "personal 
work"  is  the  main  reliance  of  the  modern  evangelistic  campaign ; 
and,  similarly  and  naturally,  the  intensity  of  opposition  from  the 
world  has  decreased,  bitterness  having  vanished,  and  even 
saloon-keepers  having  been  known  to  close  their  saloons  with 
the  other  places  of  business  in  order  that  all  might  be  at  liberty 
to  attend  some  men's  meeting.  A  complacent  good-will,  a 
pleasant  species  of  indifference,  often  prevails  toward  revivals. 

The  change  has  been  in  kind  as  well  as  degree.  The  most 
striking  is  the  elimination  of  fear.  Formerly  the  fear  of  God, 
of  punishment,  death,  and  hell,  was  aroused.  "  The  terrors  of 
hell  gat  hold  upon  me"  was  a  common  experience.  Fear 
sometimes   reached   the    point  of   terror,  and    even   frenzied 


EVANGELISM  367 

agony.  This  emotion  has  been  awakened  less  and  less,  until 
it  is  now  scarcely  an  appreciable  factor.  As  fear  of  parents, 
of  teachers,  of  rulers,  of  graveyards  and  ghosts,  of  many 
diseases  and  striking  manifestations  of  nature,  has  decreased, 
people  have  become  less  responsive  to  attempts  in  the  religious 
realm  to  move  them  by  fear.  This  emotion  has  been  dulled 
by  disuse,  and  even  Jonathan  Edwards,  preaching  on  "  Sinners 
in  the  hands  of  an  angry  God"  to  a  modern  audience,  would 
arouse  very  little  fear.  The  place  of  fear  has  been  taken  by 
love  and  sympathy.  People  respond  to  references  to  home,  to 
mother,  to  a  lost  loved  one.  They  are  strongly  moved  to  a 
decision  by  pathetic  incidents.  Music  has  become  the  most 
conspicuous  agency  in  arousing  the  feelings,  and  often  it  is 
said  that  the  singer  in  an  evangelistic  campaign  wins  more  con- 
verts than  the  preacher.  Again  and  again  sermon  and  song 
cooperate,  at  the  critical  point  in  a  service,  to  arouse  the  ten- 
derer emotions  of  sympathy  and  love  to  a  degree  that  will  enable 
them  to  carry  the  will  over  into  an  irrevocable  decision.  This 
period  has  witnessed  the  gradual  disarming  of  fear,  and  the 
enlistment  as  allies,  to  an  ever-increasing  extent,  of  the  emo- 
tions of  love  and  sympathy. 

The  Physical.  —  As  in  the  evangelistic  appeal  to  the  will  the 
change  in  the  motives  presented  to  the  mind  affected  also  the 
degree  and  kind  of  feeling  manifested,  so  the  modifications  in 
the  emotional  activities  have  influenced  the  physical  aspects, 
in  which  have  appeared  the  most  marked  changes  of  all.  In 
the  early  part  of  this  period  physical  demonstrations,  though 
not  considered  essential  by  the  leaders  and  even  regretted  by 
some,  were  very  common.  Shoutings,  groanings,  gesticulations, 
faintings,  trances,  paroxysms,  accompanied  most  great  evangel- 
istic movements.  Some  visible  or  audible  manifestation,  weep- 
ing, if  nothing  else,  was  expected  as  an  evidence  of  the  spiritual 
experience.  Steadily,  during  the  progress  of  these  years,  has 
the  expectation  of  physical  expression  grown  less.  In  time 
nothing  was  asked  beyond  a  "coming  forward  to  the  altar"; 
then  "rising  in  the  seat"  was  deemed  sufficient;  after  a  time 
that  was  reduced  to  "raising  the  hand,"  and  that  is  now  being 
superseded  by  "signing  a  card."  While  much  more  appears 
among  some  negroes,  the  "holy  jumpers,"  and  a  few  other  sects, 
it  may  be  said  that  in  the  main  these  seventy-five  years  have 


368  RECENT  CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

witnessed  the  gradual  elimination  of  the  physical  expression  of 
the  new  spiritual  attitude. 

Conclusion.  —  The  revival  always  has,  and  always  will  take 
on,  a  form  which  corresponds  to  the  spirit  of  the  age  and  the 
customs  of  the  community  where  it  operates.  The  Apostle  says, 
*'  Now  there  are  diversities  of  gifts,  but  the  same  Spirit.  And 
there  are  diversities  of  ministrations,  and  the  same  Lord.  And 
there  are  diversities  of  workings,  but  the  same  God  who  worketh 
all  things  in  all."  So  are  the  diversities  in  evangelistic  methods 
in  successive  generations,  but  the  same  Spirit,  still  one  Lord, 
one  faith,  one  baptism.  At  this  particular  time  the  evangelistic 
campaign  is  swinging  into  a  new  view  of  the  spiritual  change  it 
accomplishes.  Its  standard  illustration  no  longer  will  be  a  man 
journeying  in  one  direction  and  then  turning  squarely  about  to 
exactly  the  opposite  direction.  Rather  will  it  be  a  man  climbing 
the  heights  of  a  glorious  mountain,  who  has  stopped  or  slipped 
back,  but  who  now  springs  forward,  renews  his  upward  climb, 
and  reaches  new  heights.  Its  command  will  be,  not  "Turn 
about,"  but  "Move  forward";  it  will  cry  less  "Repent,"  and 
more  often  "  Grow  in  the  grace  and  knowledge  of  our  Lord  and 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ."  It  will  dwell  less  on  the  new  birth  and 
more  on  the  growth  of  a  spiritual  life  already  possessed.  It  will 
be  more  true  to  its  own  name  "  re-vival,"  but  it  will  be  equally 
insistent  in  calling  for  an  immediate  decision  to  make  a  new. 
start  for  a  better  life.  By  no  means  is  it  a  vanishing  factor  in 
our  church  life.  In  every  community  are  some  people  who  can 
be  quickened  to  a  higher  and  holier  life  only  by  such  special 
efforts.  They  constitute  a  minority,  but  they  are  worth  gleaning, 
and  can  be  secured  in  no  other  way.  Even  the  Roman  Catho- 
lics recognize  this  fact  in  the  "  missions  "  they  hold. 

The  evangelistic  campaign  challenges  the  attention  of  the 
heedless,  compels  a  general  consideration  of  the  claims  of  a 
better  life,  secures  the  cumulative  effect  of  a  series  of  meetings, 
obtains  the  advantage  of  concerted  action,  gains  the  inspiration 
of  new  voices  and  methods,  and  demands  that  delayed  good 
resolutions  be  at  once  vocalized  and  exercised.  Nothing  can 
take  its  place.  It  is  not  a  substitute  for  the  other  evangelistic 
influences  in  church  and  home,  but  a  supplement  to  them,  which 
always  will  be  needed,  and  which  will  appear  in  some  form  in 
every  age. 


PUBLIC   WORSHIP 

Rev.  Edwin  Whitney  Bishop,  D.D. 

Second  Congregational  Church,  Oak  Park,  III. 

Some  time  ago  I  heard  a  sermon  upon  the  text,  "I  was  glad 
when  they  said  unto  me,  Let  us  go  unto  the  house  of  the  Lord." 
For  an  introduction  the  preacher  said  in  substance:  "It  is 
strange  how  attitudes  change.  In  David's  time  they  said,  let 
us  go  unto  the  house  of  the  Lord.  In  our  time  they  say,  let  us 
go  and  hear  so-and-so  preach,  or  so-and-so  sing.  We  scan  the 
newspapers,  not  to  find  out  where  divine  worship  is  held,  but 
where  the  greatest  preacher  or  singer  is  to  be  found,  and  so  we 
have  fallen  into  the  confirmed  habit  of  going  to  hear  instead  of 
going  to  worship.  In  revolting  from  the  evil  of  ritualism  we 
have  fallen  into  the  opposite  evil  of  didacticism.  Our  common 
talk  betrays  our  attitude.  Everything  is  made  to  hinge  upon  the 
sermon.  Prayer,  scripture-reading,  hymns,  anthems,  are  all 
looked  upon  as  mere  preliminaries;  and  when  they  are  over, 
we  square  ourselves  for  what  we  deem  to  be  the  real  business 
of  the  day,  the  sermon.  Attendance  upon  church  services,  more 
often  than  not,  is  conditioned  upon  the  temperature  of  the  sermon- 
thermometer.  To  such  an  extent  have  we  exalted  the  didactic 
element  in  worship  within  the  house  of  God,  while  to  a  corre- 
sponding degree  have  we  debased  the  devotional." 

The  preacher  was  right  in  his  analysis  of  conditions  among 
the  vast  majority  of  non-liturgical  churches  even  to-day,  although 
thirty  years  or  so  ago  eddies  in  the  main  current  began  to  be 
apparent.  These  eddies  have  become  more  pronounced  with 
the  passing  years,  until  latterly  the  desire  to  enrich  the  public 
services  of  the  church  has  found  insistent  expression.  The 
reasons  therefor  have  been  practical  rather  than  theoretical. 
With  a  growing  knowledge  and  appreciation  of  music,  with  a 
marked  advance  of  the  cultural  elements  in  our  national  life, 
with  an  awakened  sense  of  what  the  Apostle  meant  when  he 
desired  to  have  things  done  decently  and  in  order,  there  has 

2  B  369 


370  RECENT  CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

been  a  steady  demand  for  more  ornate  and  better  articu- 
lated forms  of  public  worship.  Add  to  this  the  returning  host 
of  foreign  travelers  who  each  year  have  felt  the  spell  of  the 
stately  cathedral,  and  the  undoubted  fact  that  many  of  our  young 
people,  especially  the  college-bred,  turn  naturally  and  easily  to 
the  Episcopal  Church  to  satisfy  their  aesthetic,  if  not  their  spirit- 
ual, desires,  and  you  have  some  of  the  practical  reasons  why 
this  subject  is  a  live  one,  and  will  continue  to  live  until  it  is  wisely 
and  sufficiently  settled. 

The  instinct  of  worship  is  a  real  one.  It  is  also  practically 
universal.  As  Sabatier  has  said,  "  Man  is  by  nature  incurably 
religious."  If  he  has  no  god,  he  will  make  one.  The  wooden 
idol  of  Africa  and  the  totem-poles  of  Alaska  are  not  without  a 
perennial  significance.  The  story  is  told  of  a  certain  German 
philosopher  who  wanted  to  bring  up  his  child  without  any  dog- 
matic preconceptions,  so  into  the  country  he  took  him,  far  from 
madding  opinions.  The  child  reached  the  age  of  ten  without 
having  heard  the  name  of  God ;  but  he  had  not  reached  the  age 
of  ten  without  having  satisfied  his  instinct  for  worship,  for  his 
custom  was  to  rise  with  the  sun,  and  in  the  garden  pay  his  morn- 
ing orisons  to  what  seemed  to  him  a  Supreme  Benefactor.  Here 
his  father  surprised  him  one  day  and  was  perforce  obliged  to  tell 
him  of  the  Creator  of  heaven  and  earth.  In  this  story  is  to  be 
found  an  epitome  of  the  history  of  the  race.  Kept  in  ignorance, 
a  child  worships  the  sun;  kept  in  ignorance,  a  race  worships 
fire  —  because  man  will  have  his  god. 

We  of  the  Puritan  faith  and  polity  should  not  be  disturbed  at 
the  eddies,  rapidly  converging  into  a  tide,  which  run  strongly 
towards  some  liturgical  harbor.  We  cannot  turn  back  that 
tide,  if  we  would ;  we  would  not,  if  we  could ;  for  the  tide  is  ele- 
mentally healthy.  It  is  for  us,  using  the  tide,  to  come  to  some  le- 
gitimate port,  and  not  to  be  the  sport  of  wind  and  wave.  Herein 
lies  the  greatest  immediate  danger.  Outside  of  the  liturgical 
atmosphere,  often  without  an  adequate  training  in  liturgies, 
sometimes  without  musical  appreciation  or  sense,  our  ministers 
must  guard  themselves  against  a  too  rapid  absorption  of  the  new 
spirit;  and  while  they  browse  abroad  in  wide  fields,  deeming, 
and  often  rightly,  that  all  things  are  theirs,  whether  Anglican  or 
Roman  or  Moravian  or  Gregorian,  they  must  beware  of  falling 
into  such  liturgical  anarchy  as  to  make  their  latter  end  worse 


PUBLIC   WORSHIP  371 

than  their  former  state.  Such  unfortunately  is  now  too  often  the 
case.  A  minister  making  the  round  of  a  dozen  non-liturgical 
churches  might  need  a  short  vacation  to  reestablish  his  mental 
equilibrium.  Ill-considered  freakishness  is  not  lacking.  The 
liturgical  advance  needs  unification  and  poise. 

There  is  little  doubt  that  early  Christian  worship  was  founded 
on  synagogue  worship,  just  as  early  church  polity  was  in  large 
measure  the  outcome  of  synagogue  polity.  After  the  Puritan 
movement  became  a  Separatist  movement  it  sloughed  off  the 
liturgical  accretions  of  a  millennium's  growth  and  reverted  to 
even  a  simpler  type  than  that  inherited  from  the  synagogue. 
This  can  be  made  plain  by  the  use  of  the  parallel  column. 

A  typical  synagogue  service :  —     A  typical  Puritan  service :  — 

Opening  prayer  Prayer 

Reading  of  ten  command-  Singing  of  a  psalm 

ments 

Reading  of  Old  Testament  Scripture  lessons 

Liturgical  prayers  Prayer 

Comment  upon  Law  and  Sermon 

Prophets 

Exhortations  Prayer 

Closing  prayers  Benediction 

The  main  difference  between  these  orders  of  worship  (aside 
from  the  Puritan  singing  of  psalms  in  long  meter)  is  the  more 
democratic  participation  of  the  people  in  the  synagogue  service. 
Whereas  in  the  Puritan  order  the  minister  absorbed  almost  all 
of  the  public  expression  of  worship,  in  the  synagogue  the  con- 
gregation participated  more  freely.  For  example,  free  comment 
was  allowed  upon  the  Law  and  the  Prophets  by  any  visiting 
rabbi  or  accredited  person  {vide  Jesus  at  Nazareth),  exhorta- 
tions might  freely  be  given  by  any  of  the  worshipers,  while 
under  the  exercise  marked  "liturgical  prayers,"  according  to 
Edersheim,  the  people  rose  facing  Jerusalem  while  some  leader 
read  eighteen  prayers  from  a  scroll  to  which  they  responded 
"Amen."  The  almost  utter  lack  of  participation  in  worship 
by  the  congregation  under  the  Puritan  regime  is  without 
scriptural  or  philosophical  foundation.  It  is  strange  that  the 
most  democratic  polity  should  have  coupled  itself  with  the  most 


372  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

aristocratic  worship,  as  is  seen  in  the  churches  of  our  faith, 
where  minister  and  choir  still  absorb  unto  themselves  the  lion's 
share;  and  it  is  just  as  strange  that  the  most  aristocratic  polity- 
should  have  coupled  itself  with  the  most  democratic  worship, 
as  is  evinced  by  the  large  participation  given  to  the  congregation 
in  the  Episcopal  Church.     Shall  we  not  take  heed  thereto? 

With  the  advent  of  the  hymn-book  new  forces  in  worship 
were  unloosed.  For  a  few  years  the  hymn-book  had  a  precari- 
ous existence;  but  its  manifest  advantages  were  so  many  that 
opposition  gradually  died  away,  although  for  a  long  time  there 
were  churches  of  our  order  which  refused  to  sing  any  but  Watts's 
hymns.  A  typical  order  of  service  sixty  years  ago  was  as 
follows :  — 


Doxology 

Prayer 

Prayer 

Prayer 

Anthem 

Offering 

Hymn 

Hymn 

Benediction 

Scripture 

Sermon 

The  order  of  worship  is  noticeably  richer  than  under  the  un- 
modified Puritan  regime.  Thirty  years  or  so  ago  further  modi- 
fications were  introduced :  enlarging  the  sphere  of  the  choir, 
freer  use  of  the  Lord's  Prayer  and  Apostles'  Creed,  and  the 
introduction  of  responsive  readings.  The  writer  well  remem- 
bers the  commotion  that  the  introduction  of  responsive  readings 
stirred  up  in  the  conservative  congregation  of  his  native  Con- 
necticut city.  One  woman  spitefully  declared  that  she  had  no 
use  for  a  Congregational  dog  with  an  Episcopal  tail,  while  one 
of  the  deacons  refused  for  years  to  join  in  the  readings.  The 
following  is  the  order  of  service :  — 


Organ  Prelude 

Anthem 

Hymn 

Doxology 

Scripture 

Sermon 

Invocation 

Prayer 

Prayer 

Hymn 

Anthem 

Hymn 

Responsive  Reading 

Offering 

Benediction 

A  steady  and  healthy  growth  in  liturgical  elements  is  plainly 
apparent.  What  shall  the  end  thereof  be?  Undoubtedly  the 
ultimate  adoption  of  some  common  order  of  worship  which  shall 
still  allow  in  minor  things  an  adjustment  to  local  needs.  Let  us 
hope,  however,  that  this  order  will  be  a  growth  and  not  a  manu- 


PUBLIC   WORSHIP  373 

facture.  Let  us  see  to  it  that  it  has  a  psychological  basis  in  the 
laws  of  the  human  mind.  Let  us  plan  so  that  it  may  be  liturgi- 
cally  sane.  Let  us  not  minimize  the  sermon,  but  let  us  magnify 
the  worshipful  element,  for  in  the  devotional  aspects  of  public 
worship  the  church  has  no  competition.  In  sociables  the  church 
has  to  compete  with  the  clubs,  in  musical  attractions  it  has  to 
compete  with  the  theaters,  in  gymnasiums  it  has  to  compete 
with  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations,  in  sermons  it  has 
to  compete  with  the  magazines ;  but  in  an  orderly  and  dignified 
ongoing  of  public  worship  the  church  holds  the  scepter.  Why 
should  she  not  wield  it  mightily  and  increase  thereby  her  hold 
on  the  lives  of  men? 

May  the  writer  be  pardoned  if  he  presents  in  closing  an  order 
of  worship  which  he  has  used  in  three  widely-different  parishes, 
and  yet  with  a  common  result  of  satisfaction?  It  is  not  perfect, 
but  it  has  done  one  thing  —  it  has  always  created  a  worshipful 
atmosphere,  and  a  worshipful  atmosphere  is  invaluable. 

Opening  Service 

Organ  Prelude 

Chant  (Choir  and  Congregation) 

Invocation  with  Lord's  Prayer 

Service  of  Praise 

Choir  Selection 

Responsive  Reading  with  Gloria  (Congregation  standing) 

Choir  Selection 

Service  of  Communion 

Scripture  Lesson 
Pastoral  Prayer 
Musical  Response 

Service  of  Giving 
Offering 

Doxology  (Congregation  standing) 
Prayer  of  Consecration  (Congregation  standing) 

Service  of  Meditation 

Hymn  (Congregation  standing) 

Sermon 

Hymn  (Congregation  standing) 

Closing  Service 

Confession  of  Faith  (Congregation  standing) 

Silent  prayer  with  Benediction  (Congregation  standing) 

Organ  Postlude 


ENGLISH   HYMNODY 

Professor  Waldo  Selden  Pratt,  Mus.D., 
Hartford  Theological  Seminary 

The  hymnal  now  used  in  Hartford  Seminary  contains  86 1 
hymns.  Of  these,  526  (over  60  per  cent)  were  not  published 
before  1834.  Of  the  remaining  335,  about  75  had  been  current 
only  since  1820,  and  most  of  these  were  unknown  in  New  Eng- 
land. This  single  fact  intimates  how  extensive  have  been  the 
changes  in  Hymnody  during  the  past  seventy-five  years. 

Quite  as  striking  is  another  fact.  Nettleton's  famous  Village 
Hymns,  first  issued  in  1824,  contained,  when  the  East  Windsor 
Seminary  was  founded,  600  hynms.  Of  these,  only  about  80 
(13  per  cent)  are  still  in  use.  Most  of  the  rest  have  been  totally 
unknown  to  our  churches  for  more  than  a  generation.  It  is 
true  that  here,  as  in  other  cases,  the  apparent  change  of  usage 
is  misleading,  since  such  collections  of  "hymns"  were  meant 
only  to  supplement  the  estabhshed  collections  of  "psalms," 
of  which  more  remains  in  use;  but  the  fact  is  nevertheless  sig- 
nificant. 

In  1834  English  Hymnody  was  undergoing  a  profound  trans- 
formation. Throughout  the  eighteenth  century,  when  the  use 
of  hymns  proper  became  a  feature  of  English  Christianity,  the 
chief  hymnists  were  Nonconformists,  with  Watts,  Wesley,  and 
Doddridge  at  the  head  of  the  list.  When,  from  1760,  the  Estab- 
lished Church  slowly  took  up  the  practice,  her  usage  was  strongly 
controlled  by  the  patterns  of  her  dissenting  children.  Unless 
we  count  Newton  and  Cowper,  who  were  plainly  thus  controlled, 
there  is  no  influential  Church  of  England  hymnist  until  Heber, 
whose  small,  but  most  original,  group  of  hymns  was  published 
posthumously  in  1827.  In  the  same  year  appeared  Keble's 
Christian  Year,  not  itself  a  hymn-book,  but  indefinitely  stimulat- 
ing to  hymnody  of  a  new  kind.  In  1833  Keble  preached  the 
noted  sermon  that  marks  the  outset  of  the  Oxford  Movement, 
the  hymnodic  results  of  which  were,  and  still  are,  widespread. 

374 


ENGLISH   HYMNODY  375 

Apart  from  these,  yet  ultimately  joining  with  them  to  fix  a  new 
hymnodic  drift,  were  several  others.  Foremost  among  them 
was  the  Moravian,  Montgomery,  known  as  a  serious  poet  since 
1797,  who  in  1822  put  forth  his  Songs  of  Zion,  followed  in  1825 
by  the  Christian  Psalmist  and  the  Christian  Poet.  His  precepts 
and  example  had  immense  influence,  at  once  in  England,  later 
in  America.  A  less  influence,  though  not  small,  was  that  of 
Lyte,  whose  Spirit  of  the  Psalms  came  out  in  the  year  we  com- 
memorate—  1834.  As  indices  of  the  changes  that  were  taking 
place  in  English  usage  might  be  noted  critically  important 
hymnals  like  those  of  Stowell  (183 1),  Bickersteth  (1833),  and 
Elliott  (1835).  Quite  as  important  for  Dissenters  was  Conder's 
Congregational  Hymn  Book  (1836). 

Traces  of  analogous  movements  toward  freedom  from  the 
sometimes  unpoetic  and  certainly  dogmatic  trammels  of  the 
eighteenth  century  are  found  in  America.  As  illustrations 
among  Congregationalists,  note  the  Hartford  Selection  (1799), 
Worcester's  ^g/ec/  Hymns  (1823),  and  Nettleton's  Village  Hymns 
(1824),  not  to  speak  of  books  set  forth  by  several  other  denomi- 
nations before  1834.  In  Nettleton's  preface  we  find  a  purpose 
similar  to  that  more  elaborately  expressed  by  Montgomery  the  fol- 
lowing year  —  to  move  out  into  a  larger  and  deeper  use  of  poetry 
in  public  devotion,  and  to  escape  from  the  excessive  didacticism 
that  is  the  besetting  danger  of  our  type  of  church.  American 
feeling,  however,  with  the  resources  at  hand,  was  as  yet  unready 
to  take  more  than  a  small  step  forward.  Not  until  some  three 
decades  later  were  more  decided  advances  possible  in  utilizing 
the  rich  treasures  that  had  accumulated  in  England  during  that 
time.  Yet,  besides  those  just  named,  there  were  several  pro- 
gressive American  books  from  the  years  just  before  1834,  like 
Leavitt's  Christian  Lyre  (1830-31),  Hastings's  Spiritual  Songs 
(183 1),  Jones's  Melodies  of  the  Church  (1832),  and  Bacon's 
Supplement  to  Dwight's  Watts  (1833).  In  following  years  these 
tokens  of  enterprise  and  zeal  gradually  multiply,  though  always 
at  an  interval  behind  the  example  of  England. 

As  the  merest  hint  of  how  many  of  our  now  established  hymns 
came  into  use  after  1834,  I  select  a  few  samples :  — 

Montgomery  —  For  ever  with  the  Lord,  1835 

Holy,  holy,  holy,  Lord  God  of  Hosts,  1836 

Come,  let  us  sing  the  song  of  songs,  1853 


376  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

Grant  —             Lord  of  earth,  Thy  forming  hand,  1835 

Miss  Elliott  —  My  God  and  Father,  while  I  stray,  1834 

O  Holy  Saviour,  Friend  unseen,  1834 

Just  as  I  am,  without  one  plea,  1836 

My  God,  is  any  hour  so  sweet,  1836 

Christian,  seek  not  yet  repose,  1839 

Lyte  —               Pleasant  are  Thy  courts  above,  1834 

(and  perhaps  a  dozen  other  Psalm  versions) 

Saviour,  like  a  shepherd  lead  us,  1836 

Abide  with  me,  fast  falls  the  eventide,  1847 

Alford  —            Come,  ye  thankful  people,  come,  1844 

Newman  —        Lead,  kindly  light,  1834 

Taylor  —            I'm  but  a  stranger  here,  1836 

Mrs.  Adams  —  Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee,  1841 

Palmer  —           My  faith  looks  up  to  Thee,  1830 

We  stand  in  deep  repentance,  1834 

Jesus,  these  eyes  have  never  seen,  1858 

Bacon  —  O  God,  beneath  Thy  guiding  hand,  (1833)  1845 

Hail,  tranquil  hour  of  closing  day,  1845 

In  this  connection  it  is  instructive  to  note  the  dates  at  which 
certain  hymnists,  by  whom  our  present  hymnals  have  been 
specially  enriched,  first  made  themselves  known :  — 

In  England:  in  1837  appeared  Chandler,  Deck,  Denny,  Monsell;  in 
1838,  Gurney;  in  1841,  Miss  Cox;  in  1842,  Neale;  in  1843,  Bonar;  in 
1846,  Mrs.  Alexander,  Miss  Borthwick,  Gill;  in  1848,  Bridges,  Faber, 
Russell;  in  1849,  Caswall,  the  younger  Bickersteth;  in  1850,  Miss  Waring; 
ini85i.  How;  in  1852,  Baker;  in  1853,  Rawson;  in  1854,  Burns,  Tuttiett; 
in  1855,  Lynch,  Miss  Winkworth;  in  1858,  Miss  Proctor;  in  1859,  Ellerton; 
in  i860,  Miss  Havergal;  in  1862,  Thring,  Wordsworth;  in  1864,  Baring- 
Gould;    in  1866,  Stone;  etc. 

The  point  in  all  such  lists,  of  course,  is  that  almost  the  whole 
body  of  hymns  and  hymnists  that  stand  closest  to  our  present 
feeling  belong  to  the  time  after  1834,  many  of  them  a  full  quarter- 
century  later. 

Turning  now  from  these  statistics,  which  may  or  may  not  be 
illuminating,  let  us  try  to  enumerate  some  of  the  salient  features 
of  modern  Hymnody,  those  that  distinguish  it  from  that  of  the 
early  nineteenth  century  or  the  eighteenth. 

I.  A  striking  advance  has  been  made  in  literary  or  artistic 
richness  and  finish.  Montgomery  said  that  up  to  his  day  hymns 
seemed  to  come  from  almost  everybody  "except  poets." 
Whether  this  sharp  thrust  was  merited  or  not,  it  is  plain  that 
from  about  1820  there  was  a  general  and  persistent  eagerness 


ENGLISH   HYMNODY  377 

for  essential  beauty  in  Hymnody.  This  one  topic  might  be  ex- 
panded and  exemplified  at  any  length.  Just  here  was  one  of 
the  sides  of  hymnic  creation  and  hymnal-making  where  the  cul- 
ture of  the  Church  of  England  instantly  displayed  itself  as  soon 
as  its  members,  clerical  and  lay,  awoke  to  the  subject.  In  that 
communion  —  far  more  than  in  any  American  circle  —  Hym- 
nody had  been  curiously  disdained.  But  with  the  deepening 
of  spirituality  attending  the  rise  of  the  Evangelical  party,  with 
the  profound  stirring  of  opinion  and  sentiment  that  followed 
the  Oxford  discussions,  Hymnody,  both  as  an  expression  of  reli- 
gious life  and  as  a  mighty  dynamic  in  religious  work,  at  length 
came  to  its  own.  It  did  this  partly,  no  doubt,  by  virtue  of  the 
ideas  and  feelings  that  it  chose  to  magnify.  But  no  small  amount 
of  the  gain  lay  in  instinctive  improvements  of  artistic  technique, 
using  the  word  in  a  broad  sense,  including  not  merely  external 
points  like  diction,  rhythms,  rhymes,  and  the  like,  but  also  the 
artistic  method  or  finesse  in  approaching  and  handling  themes. 
So  far  have  we  moved  from  the  situation  which  Montgomery 
stigmatized,  that  to-day  no  one  can  achieve  permanent  suc- 
cess in  Hymnody  who  is  not  in  some  true  sense  a  poet.  As 
illustrations,  take  such  dissimilar  instances  as  Faber's  "Hark, 
hark,  my  soul"  (1854),  Whittier's  "I  bow  my  forehead  to  the 
dust"  (1867),  and  Matheson's  "O  Love  that  will  not  let  me  go" 
(1882)  —  none  of  which  is  conceivable  in  the  period  before 
1834. 

2,  To  cite  but  a  single  item  in  the  outward  form  of  present-day 
hymns,  observe  the  great  variety  of  meters  now  used.  Almost 
any  recent  hymnal  presents  perhaps  a  hundred  different  types 
of  verse,  each  with  its  own  artistic  possibilities — each,  also, 
requiring  its  own  type  of  tune.  Village  Hymns,  though  some- 
what free  for  its  time,  shows  only  twenty  meters,  and  no  less 
than  five  sixths  of  its  hymns  follow  the  common  derivatives  of 
the  old  ballad-meter.  This  slavery  to  a  single  species  of  verse 
was  one  reason  why  the  old  Hymnody  came  to  seem  trite.  Still 
more  telling  points  of  this  sort  might  be  cited,  especially  as 
regards  diction  and  imagery. 

3.  The  old  Hymnody  was  prevailingly  didactic,  even  when 
nominally  expressive.  Most  of  it  was  written  by  ministers,  and 
usually  all  was  unblushingly  used  as  an  adjunct  to  preaching. 
The  new  Hymnody  is  largely  written  by  the  laity,  or,  if  not,  spon- 


378  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

taneously  voices  the  sentiment  of  the  worshiping  assembly. 
Here  is  a  clew  to  the  extreme  ''theologicalness"  of  the  old  Hym- 
nody.  It  came  from  those  engrossed  with  the  scientific  and 
philosophical  aspects  of  religion,  in  an  age  when  those  aspects 
were  emphasized  as  essentially  formative  rather  than  descriptive 
and  analytic.  Modern  thought  has  perhaps  reacted  too  far 
to  the  opposite  extreme,  overexalting  individual  experience. 
Hence,  in  Hymnody,  the  great  shift  from  the  objective  to  the 
subjective,  from  the  logical  to  the  emotional,  from  the  stern 
or  austere  to  the  sentimental  and  the  picturesque.  Hymnody 
to-day  supplies  one  of  the  surest  indices  as  to  what  popular  the- 
ology is,  since  it  arises  largely  from  the  rank  and  file  of  Christians, 
and  depends  for  its  permanence  upon  popular  approval. 

Here  may  be  inserted  the  interesting  point  that  a  modern 
hymnal  usually  contains  work  of  fifty  or  more  women  hymnists. 
Before  1834  we  seldom  find  more  than  two  or  three.  The  femi- 
nine factor  has  now  become  so  large  and  even  determinative 
that  we  begin  to  hear  complaints  that  religious  expression  is 
becoming  "effeminate."  On  the  whole,  however,  we  may 
well  rejoice  that  here  the  sympathetic  woman's  voice  is  so  fully 
allowed  its  place  in  the  sanctuary. 

4.  The  new  Hymnody  has  a  new  range  of  interests.  Part  of 
this  is  due  to  deserting  the  purely  ministerial  point  of  view,  as 
has  just  been  said.  But  much  results  from  special  movements 
peculiar  to  the  nineteenth  century.  Let  us  take  two  or  three 
instances. 

The  organized  interest  in  missions  began  just  before  1800  and 
was  rapidly  extended  after  that  date.  Kelly,  a  hymnist  whose 
best  work  was  done  in  1802-20,  is  the  first  abundant  writer  of 
missionary  hymns.  With  him  opens  really  a  new  field  for 
Hymnody,  in  which  Americans  were  prompt  to  find  a  place. 
As  evidence,  we  may  cite  Smith's  "The  morning  light  is  break- 
ing" (1832). 

More  important,  because  having  more  possible  aspects,  was 
the  interest  in  children  as  a  class  and  in  the  institution  of  the 
Sunday-school.  Some  early  hymnists,  notably  Watts  himself, 
had  striven  to  write  children's  hymns.  But  substantial  progress 
waited  till  a  definite  place  in  church  economy  and  activity  began 
to  be  made  for  the  young.  The  pioneers  were  Hawker  and  Hill 
(about  1790),  with  many  followers  after  1800.     By  1834  this 


ENGLISH   HYMNODY  379 

new  hymnodic  movement  was  fully  established  in  England, 
though  not  yet  much  felt  in  America.  From  18 10  onward 
women  hymnists  contributed  to  this  side  of  Hymnody  with 
brilliant  success. 

To  a  different  category  belong  certain  other  phenomena. 
To-day,  as  compared  with  a  century  ago,  hymns  express  a  far 
more  vivid  church  consciousness  and  church  patriotism.  This 
came  first  from  the  rapid  assumption  of  leadership  after  1825 
by  Church  of  England  hymnists.  But  these  struck  notes  that 
were  so  true  that  they  awoke  responses  even  among  many  who 
would  have  been  quick  to  disclaim  the  title  "churchly."  In 
all  this  we  perceive  the  arousal  of  corporate  and  organized  Chris- 
tianity, with  the  spread  of  a  mighty  zeal  for  Christian  action 
by  large  bodies  of  people  as  such.  Hence  come  our  many 
hymns  of  fraternity,  of  passionate  loyalty,  of  militant  hope,  with 
those  that  magnify  Christ  as  Prince  and  Captain.  "Onward, 
Christian  soldiers"  (1865)  and  "For  all  the  saints  who  from 
their  labors  rest"  (1864),  for  example,  are  absolutely  modern 
utterances. 

But  this  movement  had  other  consequences.  There  was  a 
rapid  increase  of  hymns  for  particular  times  in  the  church  calen- 
dar, especially  for  Christmas  and  Easter,  for  Lent  and  Advent. 
This  growth  started,  of  course,  in  the  Church  of  England,  but 
has  now  become  universal.  Its  magnitude  would  surprise, 
perhaps  dismay,  some  of  the  fathers.  Another  result  was  the 
increase  of  hymns  pertaining  to  the  Lord's  Day  and  its  several 
services,  viewed  as  foci  about  which  the  church's  life  revolves. 
These  topics  are  not  new,  but  they  are  treated  with  fresh  zest. 

I  make  no  effort  to  emphasize  the  new  ways  of  regarding  the 
more  characteristic  topics  of  religious  belief  and  conduct,  cer- 
tainly not  because  they  are  not  significant,  but  because  a  proper 
treatment  would  require  much  space.  We  may  simply  note 
that  a  striking  feature  in  modern  Hymnody  is  the  effort  to  express 
conceptions  and  emotions  as  actually  experienced  rather  than 
as  accommodated  to  a  technical  scheme  of  thought.  The 
result,  we  say,  is  more  "natural,"  and  hence  seems  more  genuine. 
But  the  difference  is  not  one  of  sincerity.  It  is  connected  with 
the  profound  contrasts  between  the  centuries. 

5.  Some  of  the  references  already  given  have  suggested  the 
fact  that  only  within  the  past  seventy-five  years  has  the  specialty 


38o  RECENT  CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

of  hymnal-making  become  distinct.  Compilation  was  seen  to 
be  the  only  suitable  method  as  soon  as  the  number  of  recognized 
hymnists  and  of  desirable  hymns  became  considerable.  By 
1834  "Collections"  had  begun  to  dominate  usage.  With  them 
came  an  increasing  amount  of  editorial  expertness,  and  a  slow- 
accumulation  of  the  fruits  of  historic  and  critical  scholarship. 
This  branch  of  knowledge  has  now  attained  vast  proportions. 
Julian's  Dictionary  of  Hymnology  (1880)  ranks  with  the  great 
pieces  of  scientific  publication.  In  1834  both  the  data  and  the 
acumen  for  such  a  work  were  non-existent. 

6.  I  have  reserved  for  final  mention  one  point  of  special  value. 
We  may  approach  it  by  observing  that  the  Oxford  movement 
gave  a  marked  impetus  to  historical  studies.  In  Hymnody,  this 
led  at  once  to  attempts  to  transfer  to  English  the  hymnody 
of  the  Latin  Church ;  then  that  of  Germany ;  finally  that  of  the 
Eastern  Church.  The  whole  wealth  of  translations  from 
foreign  hymnodies,  with  one  small  exception,  has  been  produced 
since  1834.  By  this  particular  means  was  nourished  a  new  sense 
of  the  continuity  and  unity  of  Christianity  in  all  ages  and  lands. 

But  this  fact  belongs  with  a  larger  one.  With  the  advance  of 
historical  knowledge  and  the  refining  of  criticism,  as  both  were 
required  in  making  hymnals,  came  a  constant  interchange  of 
hymns  between  communions  otherwise  separate,  perhaps  at 
variance.  The  denominations  still  publish  and  circulate  their 
own  hymnals,  but  none  of  them  is  at  all  confined  to  its  own 
denominational  material.  What  would  the  saints  of  1834 
think  of  a  modern  hymn-book,  where  not  only  every  species  of 
Dissent  is  represented,  but  every  school  of  Episcopacy,  from 
High  Churchmen  down,  and  Roman  Catholics  and  Unitarians 
besides,  the  latter  in  large  numbers!  It  is  often  astounding 
to  students  to  discover  how  universal  is  the  range  from  which 
modern  Hymnody  draws  its  matter  —  and  perhaps  more  as- 
tounding to  find  how  indistinguishable  the  several  strains  are. 
The  truth  is  that,  when  we  come  to  meditate  and  pray  and  praise, 
with  the  chief  themes  of  experience  and  even  of  belief  in  mind. 
Christians  of  the  most  diverse  names  and  habits  are  impressively 
alike.  We  may  even  surmise  that  the  attainment  of  conscious 
unity  among  the  several  communions  of  Christendom  is  perhaps 
to  come  by  such  paths  as  these  rather  than  through  explicit 
unity  of  confession  or  uniformity  of  government.    At  least, 


ENGLISH   HYMNODY  381 

every  important  hymnal  declares  and  confirms  the  substantial 
sympathy  between  an  almost  incredible  number  of  diverse  camps 
and  cohorts  in  the  vast  Christian  army.  This  consummation 
was  but  dimly  visible  in  1834,  and  even  for  almost  two  decades 
thereafter. 

Many  other  matters  clamor  for  attention  in  this  great  subject. 
But  perhaps  these  brief  hints  will  serve  to  indicate  how  true  it  is 
that  English  Hymnody  is  an  art  very  much  alive.  It  is  often 
referred  to  yet,  as  it  might  have  been  in  1834,  as  "the  art  of 
Watts  and  Wesley."  The  truth  is  that,  upon  the  foundation 
which  they  laid,  there  has  been  reared  during  the  last  seventy- 
five  years  a  great  and  beautiful  superstructure  which  is  one  of 
the  most  impressive  monuments  of  our  modern  faith. 


CHURCH    MUSIC 

Professor  Henry  Dike  Sleeper,  F.A.G.O. 
Smith  College 

The  important  features  of  the  church  music  of  early  times 
in  America  are  well  known :  the  attitude  of  the  Puritan  toward 
music;  the  pitiful  meagerness  of  the  singing  in  early  Colonial 
days;  the  hot  discussion  regarding  singing  by  rote  and  by  note; 
the  gradual  progress  when  note-singing  became  general,  leading 
to  the  formation  of  singing  classes  and  the  improvement  of 
choirs;  the  interest  in  music  aroused  by  WilHam  Billings  and 
others  (when  the  habit  of  publishing  collections  of  music  was 
so  indelibly  fixed  upon  American  composers  that  only  within 
the  last  few  decades  has  it  slowly  yielded  to  the  habit  of  pub- 
lishing octavo  anthems) ;  the  gradual  prevalence  of  better 
taste  in  music  in  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century;  and, 
finally,  that  powerful  movement  toward  improved  singing  of 
which  Lowell  Mason  was  the  leader. 

The  way  had  been  prepared  for  Lowell  Mason's  first  Collec- 
tion of  Church  Music,  published  in  Boston  in  1822,  by  such 
books  as  the  Worcester  Collection,  1800;  the  Middlesex  Collec- 
tion, called  Hubbard's  Collection;  the  Bridgewater  Collection, 
181 2;  the  Hartford  Collection,  181 2;  the  Columbian  Harp 
(Northampton,  181 2);  and  the  Providence  Collection,  Oliver 
Shaw,  editor,  1819.  Some  good  books,  chiefly  for  the  Episcopal 
Church,  had  been  produced  outside  of  New  England.  The 
prestige  given  Dr.  Mason's  book  by  the  Handel  and  Haydn 
Society,  the  wise  selection  of  music  it  contained,  but  above  all 
the  personality  and  efficiency  of  the  man,  who  from  1827  on- 
ward devoted  himself  under  most  favorable  auspices  to  the 
progress  of  church  music,  have  served  to  make  memorable  the 
year  of  publication  of  his  first  book. 

Lowell  Mason's  mission  was  to  improve  church  music,  more 
especially  the  music  of  church  choirs;    and  with  this  in  view 

382 


CHURCH   MUSIC  383 

he  gave  his  time  to  the  training  of  the  choirs  of  several  Boston 
churches,  to  teaching  music,  to  lecturing,  composing,  and  pub- 
lishing. His  influence  was  greatly  extended  through  the  Bos- 
ton Academy  of  Music,  which  was  organized  in  1833  for  the 
cultivation  of  church  and  general  music,  and  existed  nearly 
twenty  years.  As  an  illustration  of  Dr.  Mason's  methods,  a 
service  held  in  1838  may  be  cited.  Dr.  Mason  made  an  ad- 
dress upon  hymn-singing,  with  examples  given  by  the  choir  of 
Bowdoin  Street  Church.  The  hymns  were  announced  as 
meditative,  descriptive,  didactic,  hortatory,  of  confession,  of 
solemn  worship,  of  exalted  praise,  etc. 

Dr.  Mason  won  the  valuable  support  of  such  men  as  Dr. 
Lyman  Beecher  and  Hon.  Samuel  A.  Eliot,  for  many  years 
in  charge  of  the  music  of  King's  Chapel;  and  gathered  about 
him  many  competent  helpers,  notably  George  J.  Webb  and 
A.  N.  Johnson.  Coming  directly  or  indirectly  under  his  in- 
struction were  a  host  of  others,  including  George  F.  Root, 
William  B.  Bradbury,  and  L.  O.  Emerson,  who  spread  the 
movement  far  and  wide.  Thomas  Hastings  in  New  York 
State  was  earlier  than  Lowell  Mason  in  the  field  of  church 
music,  but  his  efforts  were  more  circumscribed. 

Seventy-five  years  ago  singing-schools  were  common,  a  large 
body  of  singers  was  in  fair  training,  and  the  churches  as  a  rule, 
both  in  cities  and  in  the  country  districts,  had  chorus  choirs, 
numbering  from  a  few  voices  to  over  one  hundred.  In  many 
churches  the  leader  and  the  organist  (if  there  was  an  organ) 
received  small  salaries,  and  less  frequently  one  or  two  others 
of  the  choir  were  paid.  Organs  were  by  no  means  universal, 
even  in  the  cities,  and  in  the  country  they  were  rare.  Far 
more  common  was  the  use  of  a  bass  viol  or  a  double-bass,  with 
perhaps  a  violin,  flute,  or  clarinet.  The  small  and  ineffective 
precursors  of  the  cabinet  organ  were  occasionally  used,  but  the 
music  was  to  a  great  extent  unaccompanied. 

While  the  large  chorus  choir  was  general,  the  small  choir  was 
also  known,  and  it  is  probable  that  by  1830  there  were  regu- 
larly organized  quartet  choirs  in  Boston.  The  use  of  a  quartet 
within  a  chorus  is  recorded  earlier;  but  the  earliest  date  so  far 
found  by  the  writer  for  a  quartet  choir  in  New  England  is 
1836,  in  the  First  Church  of  New  Bedford.  It  is  known  that 
soon  after  this  date  the  choirs  of  Trinity  Church  (Episcopal)  and 


384  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

of  some  Unitarian  churches  in  Boston  were  quartets/  The  Epis- 
copal Church,  which  has  stood  most  stoutly  for  the  churchly 
in  its  music,  long  ago  abandoned  the  solo  quartet,  except  in 
case  of  necessity,  in  favor  either  of  a  mixed  chorus  or  of  a  choir 
of  men  and  boys,  and  many  churches  of  other  denominations 
have  either  superseded  their  quartets  or  supplemented  them 
by  choruses  either  voluntary  or  salaried.  Congregational 
churches  seem  not  to  have  taken  up  with  the  quartet  idea, 
with  the  rarest  exceptions,  until  well  past  the  middle  of  the 
century ;  and  in  many  cases  quartets  have  curiously  alternated, 
period  by  period,  with  chorus  choirs,  or  with  a  precentor,  or 
with  nothing  at  all  in  the  way  of  a  choir. 

The  importance  of  Musical  Conventions  in  the  progress  of 
American  church  music  can  hardly  be  overestimated.  Dr. 
Mason  and  his  followers  covered  the  entire  northern  and  middle- 
western  states.  A  convention,  beginning  with  a  few  days  of 
instruction,  would  close  with  a  big  concert  in  which  the  drilled 
chorus  would  take  part,  together  with  vocalists  from  a  distance, 
often  the  best  obtainable  in  America,  and  at  times  with  instru- 
mentalists. In  some  instances  a  considerable  orchestra  would  be 
secured  for  accompaniments.  The  programs  of  the  concerts 
were  very  miscellaneous  in  character.  A  convention,  held  in 
1865,  in  Patten,  a  small  village  of  northern  Maine,  may  be 
cited  as  a  typical  case.  It  lasted  four  days,  with  morning,  after- 
noon, and  evening  sessions  for  study,  and  closed  with  a  public 
concert,  which  included  songs,  duets,  quartets,  glees,  hymn- 
tunes,  and  anthems.  The  prices  for  course  and  for  single 
tickets  were  extremely  low.  The  exercises  were  in  charge  of 
Mr.  Solon  Wilder  of  Bangor,  who  earlier  in  that  year  had  been 
one  of  the  directors  of  the  Worcester  County  Musical  Con- 
vention, afterwards  merged  in  the  famous  Worcester  Music 
Festivals.  In  pursuance  of  the  general  custom  of  leaders,  Mr. 
Wilder's  latest  book.  The  Praise  of  Zion,  was  used  both  at 
Worcester  and  at  Patten.  At  present,  the  numerous  choral 
societies,  the  Chautauqua  choirs,  the  public  services  of  the 
American  Guild  of  Organists,  and  the  choir  festivals,  modeled 
after  the  English  choir  festivals,  are  doing  a  work  similar  to 
that  done  by  the  musical  conventions  of  a  generation  ago; 

•  It  is  generally  supposed  that  quartet  choirs  existed  in  New  York  consider- 
ably before  this  time,  but  definite  information  is  not  at  hand. 


CHURCH   MUSIC  385 

while  the  teaching  of  music  in  the  pubUc  schools,  introduced 
in  Boston  by  Lowell  Mason  in  1838,  and  now  so  general,  is  of 
inestimable  advantage  to  the  church  as  well  as  to  the  com- 
munity. 

Congregational  singing  was  by  no  means  so  general  in  the 
earlier  days  as  it  is  at  present.  In  many  churches  the  con- 
gregation had  no  part  whatever  in  the  singing.  In  others  "all 
who  were  disposed  to  take  part"  were  encouraged  to  join  in 
one  or  two  hymns  at  each  service.  It  was  the  age  of  the  chorus 
choir.  The  congregations  were  but  meagerly  supplied  with 
hymn-books,  and  these  were  without  music.  A  pioneer  in  the 
agitation  for  congregational  singing  was  Henry  Ward  Beecher, 
who,  like  his  father.  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher,  was  an  ardent  be- 
liever in  the  effect  of  church  music,  and  who  beyond  doubt 
was  greatly  influenced  by  Lowell  Mason  and  his  superb  choir 
in  Dr.  Beecher's  church  in  Boston.  Temple  Melodies,  1851, 
considered  the  first  hymn-book  with  tunes  published  in  recent 
times  in  America,  was  probably  compiled  at  the  suggestion  of 
Beecher.  A  few  years  later  the  Plymouth  Collection  was  pub- 
lished, especially  for  use  at  Plymouth  Church,  and  the  sing- 
ing by  the  immense  congregation  was  said  to  be  most  inspiring. 
In  New  England,  congregational  singing  was  not  at  all  general 
until  after  the  campaign  in  its  favor  conducted  by  Dr.  Eben 
Tourjee,  beginning  about  1870.  The  Presbyterian  churches 
often  made  use  of  a  precentor,  and  the  singing  of  the  metrical 
psalms  was  congregational.  The  Methodists  from  the  begin- 
ning believed  strongly  in  congregational  singing,  but  were  not 
so  particular  about  the  musical  qualities  of  the  singing  as  they 
were  about  general  participation. 

Church  organs  were  very  rare  in  America  prior  to  1800. 
Early  in  the  nineteenth  century  Congregational  churches  in  the 
cities  began  to  install  them,  as  for  instance  the  Old  South, 
Boston,  in  181 7;  the  First  Church,  Hartford,  in  1822;  and 
the  First  Church,  Cambridge,  in  1827.  This  was  accomplished 
often  against  serious  opposition,  or  with  great  hesitancy.  The 
Edwards  Church,  Northampton,  in  1834,  on  recommendation 
of  a  majority  of  one  in  a  committee  of  five,  voted  to  allow  an 
organ  to  be  placed  in  the  church  on  trial  for  three  years,  on 
condition  that  it  would  be  removed  in  case  at  the  end  of  that 
time  it  was  so  voted.  In  the  First  Church,  Northampton,  the 
2  c 


386  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

double-bass,  violin,  and  flute,  as  accompaniment  to  the  great 
chorus,  numbering  at  times  one  hundred  and  twenty-five,  did 
not  give  way  to  an  organ  until  1856. 

The  best-known  firm  of  organ-builders  in  America  is  that  of 
the  Hooks,  which  was  formed  in  1827,  and  still  exists  as  the  Hook- 
Hastings  Company,  now  (March,  1909)  building  its  twenty- 
two  hundred  and  eleventh  organ.  In  recent  years  the  instru- 
ments built  by  the  Roosevelts,  Hutchings,  the  Austins,  Skinner, 
and  others  have  brought  American-built  organs  into  the  fore- 
most rank  of  the  world.  Formerly  the  organs  were  almost 
universally  placed  in  the  gallery  opposite  the  pulpit.  R.  S. 
Willis,  author  of  Our  Church  Music,  1856,  was  one  of  the  early 
advocates  of  placing  the  organ  and  choir  at  the  pulpit  end  of 
the  church,  the  location  which  is  now  generally  accepted. 

No  greater  progress  in  church  music  in  the  past  seventy-five 
years  has  been  made  than  in  the  technique  of  organ-playing. 
In  the  early  days  few,  except  the  English  organists  who  had 
come  to  America,  such  as  Hayter  and  Webb  in  Boston  and 
Hodges  in  New  York,  could  really  play.  J.  K.  Paine  and 
Dudley  Buck  were  among  the  earlier  Americans  to  obtain  good 
German  training.  Nowadays,  while  organists  especially  trained 
in  church  music  are  rare,  good  players  are  abundant.  Among 
American  church  organists  and  organ-teachers  none  have  stood 
higher  than  S.  P.  Warren,  George  E.  Whiting,  and  S.  B.  Whitney. 

The  improvements  made  in  reed  organs,  about  1850,  made 
them  fair  substitutes  for  the  expensive  pipe  organs,  and  these 
instruments  were  manufactured  in  rapidly  increasing  numbers, 
Mason  &  Hamlin  being  the  foremost  builders,  until  the  annual 
output  reached  as  high  as  eighty  thousand.  The  small  churches 
took  up  eagerly  with  this  instrument,  the  best  features  of  which 
are  its  moderate  cost  and  its  habit  of  staying  in  tune. 

Turning  now  to  the  music  sung  at  the  opening  of  the  period 
under  consideration,  we  find  that  a  fair  proportion  of  the  hymn- 
tunes  were  of  English  or  other  European  origin,  though  not  so 
largely  as  at  present.  The  fugue  tune  had  almost  wholly  dis- 
appeared from  use,  but  tunes  of  American  origin  prior  to 
Mason's  time  are  found  in  most  of  the  books.  At  this  time 
chanting  was  rapidly  gaining  ground  in  the  Episcopal  Church, 
but  in  other  denominations  even  its  limited  use  is  much  more 
recent.     Nearly  all  collections  of  church  music  contained  many 


CHURCH   MUSIC  387 

good  English  anthems  and  a  few  standard  choruses,  such  as 
"The  heavens  are  telling"  and  the  " Halleluiah  Chorus."  With 
these  appeared  anthems  by  American  composers,  chiefly  by  the 
compilers,  and  of  varying  value.  There  has  been  a  notable 
advance  in  the  quality  of  American  hymnals  during  the  past 
thirty  years.  Special  mention  should  be  made  of  Dr.  Robin- 
son's series  of  books,  culminating  in  Laudes  Domini;  of  the 
Tucker  and  Hutchins  Hymnals,  admirably  meeting  the  high 
ideals  of  the  Episcopal  Church ;  and  of  recent  publications  by 
the  Century  Co.,  A.  S.  Barnes  &  Co.,  and  Biglow  &  Main. 
In  the  best  books  of  the  present,  Lowell  Mason  is  the  only 
American  tune-writer  at  all  extensively  represented,  so  fully 
have  Dykes,  Barnby,  Sullivan,  Smart,  Stainer,  and  other  recent 
English  composers  occupied  the  field. 

The  American  anthem  has  held  its  own  somewhat  better, 
although  by  far  the  best  anthems  suitable  for  the  chorus  choir 
are  by  English  composers.  After  the  Mason  movement,  stand- 
ards were  distinctly  raised  by  the  collections  and  compositions 
of  Buck,  Baumbach,  Southard,  and  others,  whose  books  were 
in  great  vogue  from  twenty  to  forty  years  ago.  The  Church 
and  Home,  1857,  edited  by  Leach,  was  perhaps  the  first  of  this 
grade  of  books.  In  these  collections  the  influence  of  Men- 
delssohn was  apparent,  which  in  England  had  already  con- 
siderably displaced  that  of  Handel  and  Haydn.  Among  living 
composers,  Parker,  Foote,  and  Chadwick  must  be  ranked  with 
the  better  English  anthem-writers,  while  many  others  are  from 
time  to  time  producing  work  similarly  high  in  purpose  and  of 
good  quality.  Less  severe  in  style  but  of  real  merit  are  the 
church  compositions  of  Stevenson,  Manney,  Shelley  (at  his  best), 
and  a  long  list  of  other  writers,  although  the  great  mass  of 
current  American  compositions  is  of  distinctly  inferior  quality. 
In  the  field  of  sacred  songs,  the  use  of  which  in  church  services 
has  sprung  up  since  the  solo-singing  of  the  evangelists  in  the 
seventies,  the  situation  is  much  the  same,  except  that  to  find 
the  best  work  of  the  English  school  one  must  turn  to  the  can- 
tatas and  oratorios. 

A  word  of  praise  should  be  given  the  Oliver  Ditson  Co.  of 
Boston,  G.  Schirmer  of  New  York,  the  John  Church  Co.  of 
Cincinnati,  and  other  music  publishers.  The  great  London 
house  of  Novello,  Ewer  &  Co.  has,  however,  been  of  still  more 


388  RECENT  CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

service  to  the  American  churches  in  supplying  moderate-priced 
editions  of  the  best  English  music.  There  has  been  also  an  im- 
mense distribution  of  American  reprints  of  English  anthems. 

The  custom  of  making  the  second  service  one  largely  of 
music  has  grown  rapidly  in  the  last  two  or  three  decades  —  a 
custom  not  wholly  above  criticism,  since  the  tendency  is  so 
strongly  toward  music  for  its  own  sake  rather  than  for  its 
religious  effect.  An  interesting  appHcation  of  the  musical  ser- 
vice is  that  of  the  "Vespers,"  prepared  by  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Longfellow  for  New  Chapel,  Brooklyn,  in  1859.  The  South 
Church,  Hartford,  was  one  of  the  first  Congregational  churches 
to  have  special  music  at  Christmas  and  Easter,  commencing 
this  custom  in  i860. 

Hymn-books  with  music  for  Sunday-schools  were  published 
as  early  as  1842,  and  countless  books  of  varying  quality  have 
followed,  some  of  the  most  popular  being  by  Doane,  Lowry, 
and  Main,  The  first  of  the  books  known  as  "  Gospel  Hymns" 
was  issued  in  England  in  1873  for  use  in  the  Moody  and  Sankey 
meetings.  Their  first  publication  in  America  was  in  1875  ^7 
Biglow  &  Main,  who  have  sold  over  sixty  millions  of  copies. 
Scores  of  similar  books,  many  of  them  greatly  inferior  in  quality, 
have  been  published  by  other  firms.  These  books  have  been 
gotten  out  to  meet  the  ravenous  demand  of  an  untutored  pub- 
lic; they  have  greatly  aided  the  efforts  of  evangelists,  but  it  is 
to  be  regretted  that  they  have  become,  even  temporarily,  the 
standards  of  taste  in  so  many  churches. 

In  conclusion,  it  must  be  candidly  admitted  that  the  state  of 
music  to-day  in  the  non-liturgical  churches  of  America  leaves 
much  to  be  desired.  The  pastors  and  the  churches  which 
exercise  an  intelligent  and  effective  supervision  over  their  music 
are  all  too  few.  The  prevailing  custom  is  to  leave,  not  only 
the  manner  of  performance,  but  the  selection  of  all  music,  ex- 
cept perhaps  the  hymns,  entirely  to  the  organist  or  choirmaster. 
When  this  officer  is  well  trained,  or  has  shown  evident  fitness 
for  such  responsibility,  this  may  result  in  no  serious  evil.  But 
when  we  consider  that  organists,  if  trained  at  all,  are  as  a  rule 
trained  simply  as  players  and  not  as  church  organists,  and  that 
choirmasters,  as  a  rule,  are  trained  only  as  to  their  voices  and 
not  at  all  as  to  their  judgment  or  taste  in  the  special  field  of 
church  music,    we    must  not  be  surprised  to  find  Wagner's 


CHURCH   MUSIC  389 

"Evening  Star"  as  the  organ  prelude  to  the  morning  service, 
or  the  overture  to  "Stradella"  as  the  postlude  for  vespers,  or  a 
harvest  anthem  sung  in  March,  or  "  Gallia"  given  at  an  Easter- 
Sunday  praise-service/  At  times  we  envy  Old  Trinity  its  list 
of  "strickly  sollem"  voluntaries,  drawn  up  nearly  one  hundred 
years  ago  by  a  conscientious  musician.  There  is  a  crying  need 
of  pastors  whose  taste  in  church  music  has  been  cultivated,  of 
church  musicians  who  have  been  specially  trained  for  their 
work,  and  of  congregations  which  are  satisfied  only  with  the 
best.^' 

The  efforts  of  Dr.  Charles  H.  Richards,  Rev.  Charles  L. 
Hutchins,  and  Dr.  M.  W.  Stryker,  to  name  but  three  among 
many  pastors  who  have  striven  valiantly  for  the  best  in  church 
music;  the  examples  of  the  New  Old  South  Church  of  Boston, 
the  Fourth  Church  of  Hartford,  the  First  Church  of  Montclair, 
the  First  and  Second  Churches  of  Oberlin,  to  name  a  few  of 
the  churches  which,  in  their  various  lines  of  work,  have  made 
effective  use  of  music;  the  teachings  of  Hartford  Seminary 
under  Professor  Pratt,  and  of  Chicago  Seminary  under  the 
lamented  Professor  Chamberlain;  the  activities  of  the  Ameri- 
can Guild  of  Organists ;  the  examples  of  such  eminently  churchly 
organists  and  choirmasters  as  B.  D.  Allen,  George  A.  Burdett, 
W.  C.  Hammond,  R.  H.  Woodman,  E.  M.  Bowman,  and  George 
W.  Andrews  —  these  are  like  the  leaven  hidden  in  the  three 
measures  of  meal.  God  hasten  the  time  when  the  whole  shall 
be  leavened ! 

>  Noted  comparatively  recently  upon  printed  service-lists  of  prominent 
churches. 

'  Statistics  recently  compiled  by  Prof.  L.  B.  McWhood  of  Columbia  Univer- 
sity show  that  a  large  percentage  of  the  Theological  Seminaries  of  nearly  all 
denominations  in  America  are  offering  instruction  in  music,  and  a  considerable 
proportion  make  music  a  required  study.     This  is  a  most  encouraging  sign. 


THE   CITY   CHURCH 

Rev.  Henry  Albert  Stimson,  D.D. 

Manhattan  Congregational  Church,  New  York  City 

Seventy-five  years  carry  us  back  to  the  thirties  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  It  was  a  time  of  prolonged  and  exceptional 
excitement.  The  decade  covers  the  second  presidency  of 
General  Jackson  and  the  great  commercial  panic  of  1837. 
The  country  was  at  white  heat  over  both  Slavery  and  Temper- 
ance. The  West  was  opening,  and  every  New  England  village 
street  rang  with  doggerel  songs  about  "going  West."  Lyman 
Beecher,  preparing  to  remove  from  Boston  to  Cincinnati,  said, 
"  The  moral  destiny  of  our  nation,  and  all  our  institutions  and 
hopes,  and  the  world's  hopes  turn  on  the  character  of  the  West. 
If  we  gain  the  West,  all  is  safe;  if  we  lose  it,  all  is  lost." 

The  whole  country  had  been  shaken  to  its  foundations  by  the 
revivals  of  religion,  which,  following  the  religious  apathy  and 
the  social  degeneracy  of  the  opening  years  of  the  century,  had 
continued  under  Nettleton,  Finney,  and  their  colleagues,  arous- 
ing and  greatly  enlarging  the  churches,  but  intensifying  theo- 
logical controversy  and  fanning  the  flames  of  wickedness.  Dr. 
Beecher  said  in  Boston,  "  One  of  two  things  must  happen :  either 
those  people  will  come  to  our  meetings  and  be  converted,  or  they 
will  attack  us  with  fearful  malignity."  The  bitterness  of  the 
Unitarian  controversy,  which  was  created  by  the  decision  of  the 
courts  in  the  famous  Dedham  case,  was  increased  by  the  wide- 
spread religious  ferment.  The  division  between  New  School 
and  Old  School  in  theology,  which  culminated  at  this  time  in 
the  trial  of  Albert  Barnes,  and  split  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
extended  to  all  denominations  and  was  only  one  feature  of  the 
general  upheaval. 

The  distinction  between  the  city  and  the  country  church  was 
much  less  marked  then  than  it  is  to-day.  The  cities  were  rela- 
tively far  smaller  and  less  influential.  Many  of  the  older  and 
larger  churches,  and  very  many  of  the  ablest  ministers,  were  in 

390 


THE    CITY    CHURCH  391 

the  country,  but  the  city  had  nevertheless  come  to  have  its  own 
characteristics,  and  its  churches  were  shaped  by  them.  It  is 
frequently  said  that  the  city  man  and  the  city  church  of  to-day 
are  peculiar.  The  pressure  of  the  great  city  fashions  them  both. 
The  same  was  said  seventy-five  years  ago.  Dr.  John  Wood- 
bridge,  who,  as  one  of  the  three  ablest  ministers  in  New  England, 
had  been  called  from  Hadley,  Mass.,  to  the  Bowery  Presbyterian 
Church  in  New  York,  after  a  short  pastorate  resigned  in  183 1. 
This  is  what  was  written  by  his  biographer  to  account  for  his 
ill  success:  — 

"  Merchants  and  men  of  business  in  our  great  marts  of  trade  are  trained 
to  reason  objectively  rather  than  subjectively,  and  live  under  influences 
at  variance  v^ith  profound  discriminating  apprehensions  of  Gospel  truths. 
This  disrelish  and  inaptitude  becomes  stronger  among  the  gay  and  dis- 
reputable. Living  in  the  whirl  of  rapidly  succeeding  events,  new  subjects 
of  thought  and  interest  every  hour  occurring,  they  seldom  form  habits  of 
protracted  reflection.  Floating  in  a  sea  of  novelties,  their  minds  become 
as  volatile  as  the  element  on  which  they  ride.  The  fugitive  and  flashy 
pages  of  the  newspaper  both  mold  their  capacities  of  thought  and  furnish 
their  requisite  of  food.  The  love  of  novelty  becomes  a  passion.  They 
hanker  for  the  new  as  the  miser  for  fresh  acquisitions.  Their  objects  of 
thought  and  interest,  changing  as  the  hours  fly,  create  not  only  the  expect- 
ancy of  events  and  circumstances  the  next  hour  and  to-morrow  as  exciting 
as  the  present,  but  superinduce  a  frivolous  cast  of  mind  extremely  unpro- 
pitious  to  that  mental  labor  which  demands  fixedness  of  attention.  They 
know  little  about  laying  up  thoughts  for  future  reflection.  The  Sabbath 
as  well  as  the  weekday  must  have  its  object  of  interest.  This  is  sought  in 
church  attendance,  in  the  entertainment  of  music,  and  other  excitabilities 
of  the  hour.  The  sermon  must  be  striking,  out  of  the  ordinary  range, 
novel  in  its  statements,  fresh  in  its  language,  replete  with  startling  inci- 
dents or  abounding  with  exuberance  of  fancy  —  all  of  which  become  the 
objects  of  pleasure  for  the  day.  People  do  not  think  and  few  come  to  learn, 
certainly  nothing  as  old  as  the  Gospel." 

From  all  this  it  will  be  recognized  that  the  city  church  of 
seventy-five  years  ago  did  not  differ  greatly  from  its  descendant 
of  to-day  either  in  the  difficulties  of  its  position  or  the  nature  of 
the  work  it  was  called  to  do.  It  is  not  in  this  direction  that  we 
find  the  change.  It  is  well  to  point  this  out  because  we  are  con- 
tinually told  that  in  these  things,  the  pressure  of  city  life,  the 
diversity  of  its  interests  and  the  breadth  and  extent  of  its 
thoughts,  is  to  be  sought  the  explanation  of  the  peculiar  prob- 
lems of  the  church  to-day. 

That  explanation  is  in  fact  to  be  found  in  quite  other  changed 
conditions.     Thirty  years  ago,  that  is,  close  to  the  middle  of  the 


392  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

period  that  we  have  under  consideration,  Dr.  Marcus  Dods  said 
that  it  would  be  "difficult  to  pick  out  any  term  of  twenty  years 
in  the  world's  history  which  had  seen  so  little  outward  change 
and  such  enormous  inward  changes  as  these  last  twenty-five 
years."  That  is  perhaps  not  true  of  the  period  upon  which 
we  have  now  entered.  The  twentieth  century  has  opened  with 
outward  changes  of  the  first  magnitude.  The  fall  of  Port 
Arthur,  the  treaty  of  Portsmouth,  and  the  entrance  of  the  Ameri- 
can fleet  into  the  Pacific,  are  events  from  which  the  world's 
history  hereafter  may  well  date.  But  their  significance  is  as  yet 
little  felt,  and  the  statement  remains  practically  true  of  our 
whole  period,  that  the  changes  which  have  occurred  may  be 
characterized  as  in  the  main  inward;  and  they  are  enormous. 
In  every  form  of  external  life  the  indications  of  these  inward 
changes  are  ample.  Science,  in  every  department,  business  of 
every  kind,  manufacturing  industries,  economics  social  and 
political,  philanthropy,  pedagogics,  all  have  undergone  changes 
so  great  as  in  many  cases  to  amount  to  a  re-creation.  Men 
may  be  pardoned  for  thinking  that  the  world  never  since  its 
creation  was  so  new ;  and  all  the  result  of  these  inward  and  re- 
constructing changes  is  recorded  in  the  thoughts  and  judg- 
ments of  men.  Here  is  where  the  difference  between  the  church 
of  to-day  and  the  church  of  seventy-five  years  ago  is,  if  anywhere, 
to  be  found ;  and  it  is  sufficiently  great. 

Seventy-five  years  ago,  the  church,  even  the  city  church,  was 
still  the  child  of  the  Reformation,  the  ark  of  the  men  who  sailed 
the  bloody  seas  of  early  Protestantism,  the  venerated  home  and 
the  strong  tower  of  the  children  of  the  Puritan  and  the  Pilgrim. 
The  conception  was  still  that  of  an  elect  company  gathered 
out  of  the  world,  as  sheep  within  a  fold,  to  be  protected  and 
nourished  until  the  day  of  the  Over-Shepherd's  coming.  There 
had  been  abundant  reason  for  this  view  of  the  church.  The 
fathers  had  fought  for  their  faith.  They  had  been  harried  out  of 
the  land.  Far  across  the  sea,  braving  the  wilderness  and  the 
savage,  they  had  sought  freedom  to  worship  God,  and  the  salva- 
tion of  their  own  and  their  children's  souls.  Though  the  day 
of  the  fathers  now  lay  far  behind  them,  and  the  circumstances 
of  their  life  were  so  ample  that  they  envied  none,  the  church, 
seventy-five  years  ago,  bore  the  stamp  of  its  earlier  history.  If 
it  had  lost  something  of  its  significance  as  a  refuge,  it  had  not 


THE    CITY   CHURCH  393 

ceased  to  be  a  Canaan.  It  belonged  to  the  Children  of  the 
Covenant,  the  seed  of  Abraham  after  the  Spirit.  It  represented 
a  spiritual  aristocracy.  Its  end  was  in  itself.  It  welcomed  to 
itself,  at  times  it  sought  eagerly  to  gather  into  itself,  as  many  as 
could  be  won,  as  the  Hebrew  of  old  received  the  proselyte ;  but 
this  was  for  his  sake,  not  for  its  own.  Men  might  bear  or  for- 
bear ;  its  position  was  assured ;  all  within  its  fold  were  safe.  It 
fought  only  to  keep  itself  pure  in  doctrine  and  in  life.  It  con- 
tended eagerly  for  the  faith.  It  held  itself  and  its  neighbors 
strictly  to  orthodoxy  and  to  discipline.  In  its  best  estate  it  did 
not  make  the  path  of  the  saint  an  easy  one ;  but  it  carefully  fed 
the  flock  and  nourished  the  lambs,  while  it  had  always  an  open 
door  for  the  prodigal  and  the  penitent.  Its  prayer-meeting 
was  a  place  of  prayer ;  its  Sunday-school  had  hardly  grown  out 
of  the  Ragged-School  period,  though  it  was  developing  Bible 
classes  in  which  its  young  people  were  personally  led  to  Christ ; 
it  had  young  men's  and  young  women's  societies  for  various  good 
purposes;  but  there  were  no  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tions reaching  the  young  people  outside  the  church.  It  felt 
that  it  was  looking  after  the  Lord's  people,  when,  for  them, 
scattered  "in  a  large  place,  as  sheep  without  a  shepherd,"  it  was 
helping  to  build  churches  in  newer  parts  of  the  country,  and 
planting  them  in  growing  sections  of  the  cities.  The  Hanover 
Street  Church  in  Boston  sent  out  no  less  than  three  colonies 
to  start  churches  in  Boston  within  eighteen  months,  in  1827- 
28;  but  beyond  here  and  there  some  "City  Mission"  work, 
the  churches  of  that  day  did  little  or  no  permanent  work  among 
the  neglected  classes.  The  history  of  the  "Old  South,"  the 
wealthiest  and  most  important  church  in  Boston,  for  example, 
records  that  its  "first  outside  field  of  usefulness"  was  sought  in 
1856,  when,  as  its  available  funds  were  increasing,  it  opened  a 
Sunday-school  in  Lowell  Street  and  began  services  which  even- 
tually became  the  Chambers  Street  Chapel  and  Church.  Before 
this  it  had  been  content  to  aid  other  churches  with  occasional 
gifts  of  money,  and  to  maintain  an  ample  poor-fund  for  the  needy 
of  its  own  company,  or  such  as  were  brought  to  its  notice.  It 
was  at  a  much  later  day  that  a  pastor  of  the  Old  School  in  a  New 
England  city  replied  to  an  application  that  he  would  speak  at  a 
special  service  in  the  square  before  his  own  church  doors,  that  if 
any  one  cared  to  hear  him,  he  could  always  find  him  preaching 


394  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

the  Gospel  in  his  own  pulpit  on  Sabbath  mornings  at  the  usual 
hour.  He  was  a  good  man,  and  did  his  whole  duty  as  he  knew 
it  in  that  church  for  many  years.  But  even  when  his  church  be- 
came half  empty,  he  did  not  realize  that  either  he  or  it  had  any 
further  duty,  or  indeed  could  find  any  closer  access  to  the  world 
outside. 

Just  here  then,  is  where  the  great  change  has  taken  place  in 
the  Modern  Church.  If  it  is  more  apparent  in  the  city  than  in 
the  country  church,  it  is  not  the  less  real  everywhere.  It  is  a 
change,  and  indeed  we  may  call  it  a  progress,  which  outweighs  all 
others.  In  comparison  with  it,  changes  in  method,  or  organiza- 
tion, or  management,  or  make-up,  are  all  relative  and  secondary. 
The  Church  has  become  possessed  with  the  new  and  revolutionary 
conception  that  it  is  a  phase  in  the  development  of  the  world's 
life.  The  Church  belongs  to  God.  But  so  does  the  world. 
Christ  died  for  the  world ;  and  only  in  a  secondary  and  depend- 
ent sense  is  it  written  that  "  Christ  loved  the  Church  and  gave 
himself  for  it."  The  Kingdom  of  God  is  coming  in  the  world. 
The  Lord  established  it  and  proclaimed  it  before  there  was  any 
Church.  The  Church  is  the  chief  mstrument  for  introducing 
it,  and  the  permanent  witness  of  its  presence,  as  it  provides  the 
machinery  for  its  development. 

From  the  beginning  the  Church  felt  itself  free  to  take  for  its 
own  uses  whatever  it  found  available  in  the  world  about  it  — 
official  titles,  methods  of  organization,  buildings,  music,  art, 
philosophies.  Every  department  of  its  life  is  infinitely  com- 
posite, because  it  bears  in  all,  its  worship,  its  charities,  its  creeds, 
its  theology,  the  impress  of  these  borrowings.  With  these  helps, 
and  in  all  ways  suitable  to  the  exigencies  of  the  existing  situation, 
it  has  sought  to  adapt  itself  to  the  work  in  hand.  It  is,  and  al- 
ways has  been,  a  living  Church.  It  is  plastic,  it  grows,  it  ejects 
its  worn  tissues  as  it  appropriates  new  material.  It  is  influ- 
enced by  its  environment;  and,  what  is  more  important,  true 
to  the  last  word  of  the  evolutionary  process  in  nature,  it  influ- 
ences its  environment  to  make  it  more  congenial  to  itself.  It 
has  life  within  itself;  and  the  presence  of  that  life,  in  its  fullness 
and  infinite  variety,  is  always  of  far  more  consequence  than 
anything  either  in  the  methods  of  its  activity  or  the  conditions 
which  surround  it. 

The  change  lies  in  this,  that  the  Church  now  knows  that  all 


THE   CITY   CHURCH  395 

this  material  that  it  has  gathered  out  of  the  world,  and  all  that 
belongs  peculiarly  to  itself  —  its  revelation,  its  fellowships,  its 
gospel,  its  hopes  and  promises — in  short,  itself,  exist  for  the  sake 
of  the  world.  They  are  the  message  and  the  life  given  to  it  for 
the  saving  of  that  world  for  which  its  Lord  and  Master  died. 
It  now  knows  that  no  Church  can  live  unto  itself  and  be  a  true 
church  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  one  problem  of  the  Church  has  come  to  be  this,  hovr  to 
fulfill  this,  its  mission,  namely,  to  win  the  world  for  Christ;  not 
merely  to  save  men  out  of  the  world  but  to  transform  and  renew 
the  world  itself,  until  in  all  its  life  it  is  fit  for  God,  and  becomes 
in  truth  the  Kingdom  of  God.  The  Church  is  now  contending 
for  the  privilege  of  leavening  the  whole  lump.  It  interprets  its 
very  doctrines  in  the  light  of  this  obligation.  Witness  the  saying 
of  Principal  Lang  of  Aberdeen.  "Let  us  settle  it  that  election 
does  not  mean  that  some  are  exclusive  recipients  of  the  divine 
favor,  but  that  those  who  freely  receive,  receive  in  order  that 
they  may  freely  give.  What  they  have  they  hold  for  the  good  of 
others.  When  a  will  bequeathing  an  estate  is  made,  the  first 
part  of  the  instrument  is  the  nomination  of  trustees,  the  consti- 
tution of  a  trustee  body.  That  body  is  elected.  The  estate  is 
confided  to  it.  But  is  it  merely  for  the  benefit  of  the  trustees  ? 
Certainly  not,  but  in  order  that  the  intentions  of  the  one  whose 
will  is  declared  may  be  realized.  The  Visible  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ  is  the  trustee  body  which  He  has  constituted,  not  to  mo- 
nopolize His  love,  but  to  be  His  executive  in  carrying  out  the 
desire  of  His  love  to  the  uttermost,  in  the  redemption  of  the 
world !  ^ 

The  Church  to-day  has  to  justify  its  right  to  be ;  not  in  view  of 
what  it  may  be  in  itself,  but  of  what  it  is  doing  in  and  for  the 
world,  and  that  in  competition  with  a  thousand  other  agencies 
—  schools,  hospitals,  philanthropies,  settlements,  organizations 
of  every  conceivable  form  —  many  of  which  the  Church  inspires 
and  helps  to  support. 

The  problem  is,  how  to  do  the  work  which  to-day  all  have 
come  to  see  it  is  the  purpose  of  God  shall  be  done.  In  the 
language  of  the  Staffordshire  iron-worker,  the  problem  of  the 
Church  has  come  to  be  simply  this,  has  she  "heat  enough  to 
run"   the  world's  "metal"?       Can    she    transform    this   raw 

*  The  Church  and  its  Social  Mission,  p.  37. 


396  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

material  into  the  thing  of  use  and  beauty  that  God  wants  it  to 
be?  This  is  what  makes  so  vital  in  the  Church  the  Spirit  of 
God,  which  was  the  Saviour's  final  gift. 

To  fail  of  this  is  ruin  for  the  Church  and  despair  for  the  world, 
"  No  calamity  to  a  town,"  said  Lyman  Beecher,  eighty  years  ago,. 
"  is  greater  than  the  existence  of  a  Church  in  a  low  state  of 
religious  feeling,  lax  in  discipline,  lax  in  morals,  few  in  numbers, 
and  inefficient  in  religious  enterprise.  In  such  a  state  every- 
thing that  is  good  runs  down  and  everything  that  is  wicked 
rises.  The  light  in  such  a  Church  is  darkness,  and  great  is  that 
darkness." 

Because  the  Church  has  come  into  the  full  consciousness  of 
this  larger  human  communion,  this  want  which  Christ  came  to 
satisfy,  we  believe  that,  despite  all  the  difficulties  in  the  way,  the 
fears  within  and  the  foes  without,  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  is, 
and  is  to  be,  the  light  of  the  world.  It  has  the  call,  it  has  re- 
ceived the  vision,  it  will  surely  receive  the  spiritual  power  needed 
for  its  great  task.  We  are  justified  in  believing  that  the  Church 
of  the  twentieth  century  has  a  truer  apprehension  of  its  mission, 
a  wider  horizon,  a  clearer  course,  and  a  firmer  hold  upon  its  task 
than  any  that  has  preceded  it. 


THE   COUNTRY   CHURCH 

Rev.  Thomas  Cole  Richards 
First  Congregational  Church,  Warren,  Mass. 

"Progress"  is  not  the  word  that  men  are  using  in  connec- 
tion with  the  "country  church."  Retrogression,  decadence, 
rural  degeneration,  impending  paganism,  and  "a  barbarism 
differing  from  the  city  slums  only  in  its  stagnant  inertia  and 
touched  as  little  by  church  influence  as  if  in  the  heart  of  Africa"  * 
—  such  are  the  terms  that  one  finds  coupled  with  any  discus- 
sion of  the  country  church  in  these  days.  In  face  of  many 
articles  and  speeches  of  this  type,  filled  with  lurid  word-pictures 
and  startling  statistics,  is  there  nothing  which  can  be  said  on  the 
brighter  side?  Admitting  the  truth  of  many  of  these  indict- 
ments, there  is  a  brighter  and  better  side  to  the  country  church 
problem. 

In  the  first  place,  these  decadent  conditions  a're  not  new, 
neither  is  the  anxiety  felt  about  them  modern.  Lyman  Beecher 
in  1814  preached  a  sermon  on  "The  Building  of  Waste  Places." 
While  the  sermon  had  particular  reference  to  conditions  in  Con- 
necticut, Dr.  Beecher  said  the  remarks  were,  "  with  slight  modi- 
fication, applicable  to  New  England  generally." 

Here  are  sample  passages  from  the  sermon:  "There  are 
grievous  desolations  in  this  state,  societies  might  be  named 
where  the  church  is  extinct  and  the  house  of  God  in  ruins;  the 
blasts  of  winter  rave  through  it,  the  flocks  of  summer  shelter  in 
it,  the  Sabbath  is  a  holiday.  .  .  .  There  are  districts  as  far 
from  heaven,  and,  without  help,  as  hopeless  of  heaven,  as  the 
pagans  of  Hindustan  or  China.  Will  the  churches  sleep  over 
such  ruins?"  This  sermon  was  published  in  1828,  with  only 
additional  footnotes — just  six  years  before  the  Theological 
Institute  of  Connecticut  was  founded. 

Halfway  between  then  and  now,  in  1859,  Henry  Clay  Trum- 
bull, State  Missionary  and  Sunday-school  Secretary  for  Con- 
necticut, paints  just  as  depressing  a  picture —  scores  of  unused 

'  Henry  L.  Hutchins,  Rural  Town  Decadence. 
397 


398  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

country  churches  going  to  ruin  and  decay  —  fifteen  in  a  single 
county.  "In  one  settlement  the  Roman  Catholics  were  rejoic- 
ing that  the  influence  of  the  revival  (1857)  had  penetrated  to 
that  locality,  and  had  humanized  and  elevated  the  vile, 
degraded  descendants  of  the  Puritans." 

In  the  year  1847  Horace  Bushnell  delivered  an  address  in 
Boston,  New  York  and  various  other  places  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Home  Missionary  Society  on  "Barbarism  the 
First  Danger."  In  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century,  of 
thirty-five  towns  in  Strafford  County,  New  Hampshire,  only 
three  gave  "adequate  support  to  the  gospel";  and  in  1823  an 
appeal  was  made  to  the  Home  Missionary  Society  because  the 
churches  in  eighteen  towns  in  the  same  county  "were  all  broken 
to  pieces."  All  these  things  have  a  strangely  modern  sound, 
yet  they  belong  to  "the  good  old  times."  Our  times  afford  no 
more  striking  examples  of  moral  and  spiritual  degeneracy. 

In  the  second  place,  though  there  has  been  a  decline  in  quan- 
tity and  quality  of  the  population  in  many  of  our  country  towns, 
and  a  consequent  and  commensurate  decline  in  many  rural 
churches,  the  churches  have  fared  well  in  comparison  with  the 
population.  Take  the  figures  of  the  United  States  Census,  and 
we  find  that,  while  in  1800  the  ratio  of  communicants  in  the 
churches  was  one  among  14.50  inhabitants,  it  had  risen  to  one 
communicant  among  6.57  inhabitants  in  1850;  and  in  1900 
was  one  among  4.28  inhabitants. 

To  bring  the  matter  closer  home,  Rev.  William  F.  English 
has  made  an  exhaustive  study  of  the  town  of  East  Windsor,  Conn. 
In  one  hundred  years  the  town  has  gained  in  population  one 
hundred  per  cent.,  about  two  thirds  of  this  increase  being  Ro- 
man Catholics.  The  one  Protestant  church  (Congregational) 
has  increased  to  six  Protestant  churches  (two  Congregational, 
two  Methodist,  and  two  Episcopal)  and  one  Roman  Catholic 
church.  The  Protestant  population  has  increased  thirty-three 
per  cent.,  while  there  has  been  a  gain  in  the  Protestant  church 
membership  of  five  hundred  and  thirty-five  per  cent. ;  and  the 
membership  of  the  original  church  has  doubled  in  this  hundred 
years.  Within  the  last  thirty-six  years  this  First  Congregational 
Church  has  lost  twenty-nine  per  cent,  of  its  families,  while  its 
membership  is  the  same;  and  the  proportion  of  males  in  its 
membership  has  risen  from  thirty-one  per  cent,  to  thirty-eight  per 


THE    COUNTRY   CHURCH 


399 


cent.  At  the  beginning  of  this  period  thirty-three  per  cent,  of 
the  famihes  lived  more  than  two  miles  from  the  church,  while 
now  there  are  only  nineteen  per  cent.;  then  twenty-seven  per 
cent,  were  within  a  mile,  now  thirty-two  per  cent. ;  then  sixty- 
five  per  cent,  within  two  miles,  now  seventy-three  per  cent. 
This  geographical  change,  produced  by  the  growth  of  new- 
parishes,  explains  the  loss  of  constituency.  At  the  present 
time  sixty-five  per  cent,  of  its  families  are  made  up  entirely 
of  professing  Christians,  except  the  younger  children. 

Further,  Mr.  English  speaks  of  the  twelve  churches  compos- 
ing the  Conference  of  Churches  to  which  his  church  belongs. 
In  six  of  these  churches  rural  conditions  prevail,  while  six 
would  be  classed  as  urban  or  manufacturing.  During  the 
last  twenty  years  the  rural  group  has  lost  in  families  twenty- 
eight  per  cent.,  and  has  lost  six  per  cent,  in  resident  member- 
ship. The  other,  urban  group,  has  gained  in  the  same 
time  seventy-four  per  cent,  in  constituency,  and  gained  only 
twenty-two  per  cent,  in  resident  membership.  So  much  for 
intensive  cultivation  in  the  rural  parish. 

Let  us  go  to  another  part  of  Connecticut,  Litchfield  County, 
where  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  Horace  Bushnell,  and  Charles  G, 
Finney  were  born,  and  where  Lyman  Beecher  and  Edward 
Dorr  Griffin  preached.  In  one  country  church,  whose  con- 
stituency is  purely  agricultural,  one  man  has  ministered  for 
thirty-eight  years.  This  man  is  Rev.  Arthur  Goodenough, 
of  the  First  Congregational  Church,  Winchester.  In  the 
original  parish  were  one  hundred  and  fifty  families,  and  in  that 
area  are  now  only  one  hundred  and  ten  families,  but  the  pastor 
has  annexed  one  hundred  and  forty  families  from  outlying  and 
otherwise  neglected  corners.  In  the  last  twenty-five  years,  with 
a  stationary  population,  he  has  seen  the  membership  of  his 
church  doubled.  Nearly  one  third  of  the  resident  membership 
can  be  called  upon  to  lead  in  public  prayer.  A  Methodist  class- 
leader,  an  Episcopal  vestryman,  a  number  of  Congregational 
deacons  and  Sunday-school  superintendents,  have  gone  out  from 
its  membership. 

Mr.  Goodenough  has  summed  up  conditions  and  changes  in 
Litchfield  County  during  the  past  seventy-five  years,  and  the 
writer  is  indebted  to  him  for  the  following  analysis.  There  is 
no  city  within  the  limits  of  the  county.     At  the  beginning  of  this 


400  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

period  all  the  churches  would  have  been  classed  as  country 
churches.  Winsted,  Torrington,  and  Thomaston  have  become 
large  manufacturing  centers  and  have  increased  by  great  strides 
in  wealth  and  population.  Their  churches  have  grown  by  influx 
from  the  surrounding  parishes.  Other  railroad  villages,  with 
varied  and  less  successful  industries,  have  held  their  own  or 
made  slight  gains,  viz.,  New  Hartford,  Canaan,  East  Canaan, 
Kent,  Falls  Village,  and  West  Cornwall.  Other  towns,  where 
wealthy  old  families  have  lived  (whose  business  has  been  in  the 
city)  have  made  a  nucleus  for  permanent  summer  colonies,  have 
prospered  financially  and  socially,  and  their  churches  have 
grown.  Such  are  Norfolk,  Sharon,  Salisbury,  Cornwall,  Litch- 
field, Washington,  and  New  Milford.  The  communities  wholly 
or  mainly  dependent  on  farming  show  us  churches  depleted 
to  one  half  and  one  third  their  former  size,  weaker  in  every 
way,  and  no  longer  served  by  doctors  of  divinity.  Such  are 
Colebrook,  Barkhamsted,  Nepaug,  Riverton,  Torringford,  Har- 
winton,  Morris,  Milton,  Bethlehem,  Roxbury,  Bridgewater, 
Ellsworth,  Warren,  and  South  Canaan.  Goshen  and  Win- 
chester are  the  only  churches  of  this  type  which  have  grown, 
and  they  are  contiguous  to  good  markets.  Mr.  Goodenough 
says  that  in  his  opinion  most  of  the  rural  churches  are  "begin- 
ning to  rally  under  the  influence  of  endowments,  or  summer 
residents,  or  the  grange." 

An  economist  of  the  present  time.  Professor  Commons,  says 
that  "the  two  great  faults  of  our  Protestantism  are  overlapping 
and  overlooking."  There  is  no  question  that  these  two  evils 
are  accentuated  in  the  rural  fields.  But  even  in  these  there  is 
improvement.  Dr.  Beecher,  in  the  sermon  already  quoted, 
under  his  first  heading,  "The  Cause  of  these  Desolations,"  says 
that  there  is  no  parish  where  the  Gospel  could  not  be  supported 
if  the  people  were  only  united.  "But  the  property,  in  many 
societies,  is  divided  between  three  or  four  denominations,  be- 
sides a  part  which  the  love  of  money  and  indifference  wholly 
withdraw  from  the  support  of  divine  institutions.  The  conse- 
quence is  the  decline,  and  in  some  cases  the  entire  subversion, 
of  that  religious  order  which  our  fathers  established."  This 
crowding  of  two  or  three  churches  where  one  will  do  better 
work  needs,  as  Dr.  Beecher  says,  an  investigation  "conducted 
with  the  verity  of  an  historian  and  the  fidelity  of  a  surgeon." 


THE   COUNTRY   CHURCH  401 

Such  investigation  has  been  and  is  being  made  by  the  Maine  In- 
terdenominational Commission  and  the  Church  Federations  of 
Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island.  Comity  and  fraternity  are 
attained,  and  the  union  or  elimination  of  superfluous  churches 
is  making  good  progress.  The  reduplication  of  organizations 
and  buildings  is  discouraged,  and  this  will  render  possible  a 
living  salary  to  the  country  minister. 

Prevention  of  overlapping  immediately  sets  the  men  and 
money  free  to  minister  to  neglected  corners  and  out-of-the-way 
and  overlooked  districts,  which,  after  all,  are  the  places  of  the 
rural  slum  and  degeneration.  There  is  much  being  done  in  this 
regard  by  laymen  and  ministers  organizing  Sunday-schools, 
Christian  Endeavor  societies,  and  prayer-meetings,  in  school- 
houses,  halls,  private  homes,  and  small  chapels,  in  districts  re- 
moved from  the  center.  In  Litchfield  County  the  Norfolk 
church  has  built  and  maintained  a  chapel  at  North  Norfolk, 
while  churches  like  Goshen,  Salisbury,  and  Winchester  use 
schoolhouses  and  abandoned  Methodist  churches  for  this  pur- 
pose. The  further  development  of  this  district  plan  will 
remove  these  centers  of  moral  and  religious  lapse. 

Lyman  Beecher  felt  that  one  great  need  of  his  time  was  some 
form  of  religious  instruction  and  training  "suited  to  the  age  and 
altered  circumstances  of  youth,"  though  in  a  footnote  he  ex- 
presses great  hope  and  satisfaction  in  the  Sunday-school,  which 
had  come  into  its  place  between  the  preaching  of  his  sermon 
(1814)  and  its  publishing  (1828).  Certain  it  is  that  the  Sunday- 
school,  and  notably  the  Christian  Endeavor  Society,  have  made 
the  condition  and  position  of  children  and  young  people  in  the 
rural  church  altogether  in  advance  of  what  it  was  seventy-five 
years  ago.  The  home  department  of  the  Sunday-school  in 
particular  brings  the  church  into  direct  connection  in  religious 
instruction  and  in  social  helpfulness  with  many  at  a  distance 
from  the  center;  while  the  Christian  Endeavor  Society  has 
attained  a  stronger  position  in  the  country  churches,  especially 
in  those  churches,  which  are  many,  where  its  meeting  is  the 
only  Sunday  evening  service.  As  a  direct  result  of  this  the 
country  churches  are  sending  a  steady  stream  of  trained  young 
people  into  our  city  churches.  The  country  church  receives 
few  into  its  membership  by  letter,  while  the  city  church  is 
constantly  growing  at  its  expense. 


402  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

The  country  church  from  the  time  of  Samuel  J.  Mills  and 
Gordon  Hall  to  this  present  has  supplied  the  bulk  of  the  foreign 
missionaries.  Dr.  James  L.  Barton  says  that  of  the  one  hundred 
and  seventy-one  missionaries  supplied  by  New  Hampshire  to 
the  American  Board  only  three  came  from  the  cities,  and  practi- 
cally all  of  Vermont's  two  hundred  and  seventeen  missionaries 
were  from  the  country,  of  which  the  little  church  of  Randolph, 
with  forty-one  resident  members,  has  sent  seven. 

One  distinct  advance  of  the  country  church  has  been  in  in- 
stitutional work,  or  rather  in  making  the  church  the  social  and 
intellectual,  as  well  as  the  moral  and  spiritual,  center  of  the 
community.  Study-clubs,  Chautauqua  circles,  mission-classes, 
reading-circles,  boys'  clubs,  men's  clubs,  libraries,  and  parish 
houses  are  making  the  church  more  the  center  of  the  community 
than  when  the  old  white  meeting-house  was  the  center  of  the 
town,  because  it  stood  geographically  at  the  crossroads.  More 
cooperation  of  the  country  church  with  other  forces  of  the 
community  which  are  making  for  brotherhood  and  righteous- 
ness, like  the  grange,  farmers'  clubs,  village-improvement  so- 
cieties, and  lecture  courses,  will  mark  the  way  of  further  progress, 
and  make  it  even  a  mightier  factor  in  rural  improvement. 

There  is  much  in  the  present  trend  of  things  which  augurs 
well  for  rural  progress.  The  trolley  car,  the  telephone,  and  the 
movement  for  good  roads  are  bringing  the  country  folk  into 
closer  touch,  because  of  easier  communication  with  each  other. 
Rural  free  delivery  and  parcels-post  will  keep  them  in 
closer  touch,  with  the  outside  world.  Forestry  is  to  change 
worthless  hillsides  into  savings-banks.  Agitation  and  legislation 
• —  not  forgetting  President  Roosevelt's  Commission  on  Rural 
Improvement — are  looking  largely  to  the  welfare  of  country 
people  and  to  rural  progress.  In  that  progress  the  country 
church  will  share  and,  what  is  more  essential,  do  its  share.  We 
read  of  ''the  passing  of  the  country  church."  So  men  have 
written  about  "  The  Passing  of  Christ,"  *  but  the  poet  replies : — 

"  Not  till  the  leaven  of  God 
Shall  lighten  each  human  clod; 
Not  till  the  world  shall  climb 
To  thy  height  serene,  sublime, 
Shall  the  Christ  who  enters  our  door 
Pass  to  return  no  more." 
»  R.  W.  GUder. 


THE    COUNTRY    CHURCH  403 

The  church  which  is  trying  to  do  Christ's  work  in  Christ's 
way  will  not  pass,  but  in  the  future,  more  than  in  the  past, 
will  "impart  courage,  inspire  kindness,  develop  brotherhood, 
and  create  character."  As  one  says  who  has  done  so  much  for 
The  Country  Town  as  well  as  the  country  church:  ^  "The  com- 
munity needs  nothing  so  much  as  a  church  to  interpret  life;  to 
diffuse  a  common  standard  of  morals;  to  plead  for  the  public 
interest;  to  inculcate  unselfishness,  neighborliness,  cooperation ; 
to  uphold  ideals.  In  the  depleted  town  with  shattered  institu- 
tions and  broken  hopes,  in  the  perplexity  of  changing  times,  in 
the  perils  of  degeneracy,  the  church  is  the  vital  center  which  is 
to  be  saved  at  any  cost.  In  the  readjustments  of  the  times  the 
country  church  has  suffered ;  but,  if  in  its  sacrifices  it  has  learned 
to  serve  the  community,  it  lives  and  will  live." 

'  Rev.  W.  L.  Anderson. 


THE   SUNDAY-SCHOOL 

Rev.  Henry  Park  Schauefler 
OuvET  Memorial  Church,  New  York  City 

In  even  the  briefest  survey  of  the  history  of  the  Sunday-school 
in  the  United  States  during  the  last  seventy-five  years,  the  three- 
fold genius  of  this  great  movement  is  strikingly  apparent.  It 
has  had  vitality  enough  to  expand,  until  it  has  reached  astound- 
ing proportions.  It  has  been  plastic  enough  to  change,  with  a 
self-sought  evolution  meeting  the  need  and  temper  of  the  times. 
It  has  had  power  enough  to  inspire  and  foster  other  effective 
movements  —  movements  that  are  now  molding  public  opinion 
and  making  history. 

I.  Growth  and  Expansion.  —  At  the  beginning  of  the  period 
which  we  are  to  study,  the  condition  of  the  churches  of  this  land 
was  deplorable.  Some  power  was  needed  to  awake  them  from 
their  torpor,  some  movement  must  arise  and  stir  them  to  a  new 
life,  the  Bible  must  be  rediscovered.  This  deep-seated  convic- 
tion in  the  minds  of  many  earnest  Christians  opened  the  way 
for  the  rapid  and  remarkable  rise  of  the  Sunday-school  move- 
ment. The  American  Sunday  School  Union,  whose  object 
was  ''  To  establish  and  maintain  Sunday-schools,  and  to  publish 
and  circulate  moral  and  religious  publications,"  was  then  push- 
ing its  work  with  great  vigor.  Every  community  in  the  newly- 
opened  Mississippi  Valley,  every  district  in  the  South,  every 
town,  village,  and  hamlet  throughout  the  land  was  to  be  provided 
with  a  Sunday-school  —  this  was  the  ideal  kept  ever  in  view. 

Since  that  time  the  American  Sunday  School  Union  has  been 
planting  on  the  average  from  three  to  four  new  Sunday-schools 
every  day.  Seventy-five  years  ago  there  were  about  600,000 
children  in  the  Sunday-schools  of  this  land.  To-day  the  latest 
figures  give  us  a  total  enrolment  of  13,732,192  scholars  con- 
nected with  the  151,476  Sunday-schools  in  the  United  States. 
The  original  small  band  of  teachers  has  grown  to  a  teaching 
force  of  almost  a  million  and  a  half. 

404 


THE   SUNDAY-SCHOOL  405 

Formerly  a  few  scattered  publishing  houses  issued  Sunday- 
school  leaflets  in  a  haphazard  way.  Now  twenty-five  publish- 
ing houses  make  a  business  of  bringing  out  the  enormous  mass 
of  literature  connected  with  the  various  systems  of  Sunday- 
school  instruction. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  name  all  the  forces  that  have  contrib- 
uted to  this  enormous  expansion.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that  the 
vitality  of  the  movement  from  the  very  first  made  growth  im- 
perative. Furthermore,  the  movement  was  most  fortunate  in 
having,  especially  during  the  latter  portion  of  the  period  under 
consideration,  remarkably  able  and  forceful  leaders,  such  as 
B.  F.  Jacobs,  Henry  Clay  Trumbull,  A.  F.  Schauffler,  Marion 
Lawrence,  W.  N.  Hartshorn,  and  many  others,  who  have  left 
the  stamp  of  their  personality  and  the  influence  of  their  conse- 
cration upon  tens  of  thousands  whom  they  have  reached  through 
the  spoken  word  at  conventions,  or  through  the  written  message 
scattered  broadcast  over  the  Sunday-school  world  by  such  able 
publications  as  the  Sunday  School  Times. 

II.  Changes  in  Conception  and  Form.  —  During  the  last 
seventy-five  years  the  Sunday-school  has  been  molded  and 
changed  by  its  remarkable  genius  for  adapting  itself  to  the  needs 
of  every  rising  generation,  and  by  its  eagerness  to  adopt  the  best 
methods  and  results  of  the  wisest  scholarship.  One  change 
after  another  has  followed  as  the  need  has  presented  itself  and 
as  the  means  for  meeting  that  need  were  realized. 

I.  Spiritual  Aim.  —  At  the  beginning  of  the  period  under 
consideration  very  little  heed  was  given  to  the  question  of  the 
spiritual  fitness  of  the  teacher.  It  was  most  difficult,  even  in 
the  larger  centers,  to  get  people  who  were  professed  followers  of 
Christ  to  take  upon  themselves  the  new  and  somewhat  strange 
task  of  teaching  in  a  Sunday-school.  The  result  was  that  only 
four  per  cent,  of  the  teachers  in  the  Sunday-schools  at  that  time 
were  professing  Christians.  All  this  has  now  been  changed. 
At  present  almost  all  of  the  million  and  a  half  Sunday-school 
teachers  in  this  land  are  not  only  professing  Christians  and  mem- 
bers of  the  churches  where  they  are  serving,  but  are  also  the  real 
spiritual  leaders  of  the  communities  in  which  they  live. 

With  such  a  change  in  the  teaching  force,  the  emphasis  natu- 
rally came  to  be  taken  from  the  mere  memorizing  of  Bible  texts 
and  the  casual  telling  of  Bible  stories,  and  to  be  placed  on  the 


4o6  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

winning  of  the  child  to  a  definite  acceptance  of  Christ  as  his 
Master,  and  the  Christlike  life  as  the  only  one  to  be  chosen  and 
followed.  With  this  as  the  paramount  purpose  of  the  teacher, 
the  record  of  the  past  three  years  is  noteworthy,  for  during  this 
time  832,736  persons  have  been  won  to  a  public  confession  of 
Christ. 

2.  Apparatus.  —  Realizing  the  vital  importance  of  its  work, 
the  Sunday-school  has  persistently  sought  to  solve  the  problem 
of  how  and  where  it  could  do  its  best  work.  Seventy-five  years 
ago  schools  were  usually  gathered  in  the  galleries  of  the  churches, 
in  forlorn-looking,  ill-ventilated  chapels,  and  sometimes  in  the 
stiff-backed,  uncomfortable  pews  of  the  church  proper.  To-day 
no  church  building  is  considered  adequate  unless  it  has  a  care- 
fully-planned and  well-appointed  Sunday-school  room.  Usually 
this  can  be  divided  into  a  number  of  class-rooms,  where,  during 
the  teaching  of  the  lesson,  the  teacher  and  the  class  are  alone  and 
undisturbed. 

Formerly  the  use  of  a  blackboard  was  revolutionary  and  pro- 
voked severe  criticism.  Now  every  class-room  expects  its  own 
blackboard ;  and  all  manner  of  helpful  apparatus,  maps,  charts, 
tables,  notebooks,  pictures,  and  sand-boards  are  often  employed. 
In  these  ways  the  truth  of  the  lesson  taught  reaches  the  mind 
and  heart  of  the  scholar  through  the  eye-gate  as  well  as  through 
the  ear-gate,  and  the  teacher  by  various  manual  methods  seeks 
to  give  the  child  the  opportunity  of  expressing  with  his  own  hand 
and  in  his  own  way  the  lesson  which  he  has  just  been  learning. 

3.  Lesson  Systems.  —  Shortly  before  the  beginning  of  the 
period  under  consideration  an  attempt  was  made  by  the  Ameri- 
can Sunday  School  Union  to  unite  the  various  scattered  Sunday- 
school  organizations  in  the  study  of  a  system  of  uniform  lessons. 
At  first  the  success  of  this  effort  was  very  limited.  Sunday- 
schools  went  on  in  the  old  way,  choosing  their  own  lessons, 
sometimes  many  different  lessons  being  taught  in  the  same  school 
at  the  same  time.  Hence,  with  no  unity  or  continuity  in  the 
teaching,  the  scholar,  however  long  he  might  be  a  member  of 
the  school,  never  even  approximately  covered  the  whole  Bible 
in  his  study.  Furthermore,  without  a  uniform  lesson  system, 
the  publishers  could  not  afford  to  print  any  considerable  amount 
of  literature  bearing  on  any  one  of  the  haphazard  lesson  courses 
then  in  use. 


THE   SUNDAY-SCHOOL  407 

It  was  not  until  1872  that  a  uniform  lesson  system  was  defi- 
nitely proposed,  later  to  be  enthusiastically  adopted  by  the  First 
International  Convention  held  at  Baltimore  in  1875.  Thus  the 
International  Lesson  System,  now  used  all  over  the  world, 
sprang  into  being.  The  publishers  could  now  do  what  they  had 
been  waiting  to  do,  and  the  ripest  Christian  scholarship  was  at 
once  called  upon  to  assist  in  producing  a  body  of  literature 
bearing  upon  the  lessons  chosen  by  the  International  Sunday 
School  Association. 

Other  lesson  systems  have  from  time  to  time  been  proposed, 
and  have  met  with  more  or  less  favor.  Chief  among  these  is 
the  excellent  system  formulated  by  the  Rev.  Erastus  Blakeslee 
and  promoted  by  the  Bible  Study  Union,  a  system  almost  en- 
tirely dependent  for  its  success  on  its  careful  grading  and  the 
painstaking  detail-work  required  of  teacher  and  scholar.  Other 
systems,  based  on  the  principle  of  a  preview,  as  well  as  a  review, 
such  as  the  one  suggested  by  Professor  C.  S.  Beardslee  of  the 
Hartford  Theological  Seminary,  have  not  only  been  interesting 
experiments,  but  have  indirectly  been  instrumental  in  stimu- 
lating to  an  increasingly  high  degree  of  perfection  the  system  of 
lessons  suggested  by  the  scholarly  and  hard-working  Inter- 
national Lesson  Committee,  a  committee  charged  with  the 
enormously  difficult  and  important  task  of  choosing  the  lessons 
and  thus  directing  the  Bible  study  of  over  twenty-five  million 
people. 

4.  Pedology.  —  One  of  the  most  striking  changes  in  the  Sun- 
day-school during  these  last  seventy-five  years  has  been  the 
attention  paid  to  the  child.  With  the  whole  wonderful  develop- 
ment of  the  movement  that  sprang  from  the  life  and  study  of 
Froebel,  there  followed  a  keen  interest  in  the  child,  and  a  scien- 
tific investigation  of  the  mind  of  the  child,  of  the  food  suitable 
for  that  mind  at  its  various  stages  of  development,  and  of  the 
right  and  most  effective  way  in  which  that  food  should  be 
administered. 

Child-Psychology  through  its  study  and  conclusions  has  not 
only  led  to  radical  changes  in  public-school  teaching,  but  has 
also  at  length  entered  actively  into  the  consideration  of  those 
intrusted  with  the  spiritual  training  of  the  child.  From  this 
scientific  study  the  new  graded  lesson  system  of  the  International 
Sunday   School  Association    has    sprung.     As    yet    the    whole 


4o8  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

question  of  the  minuteness  with  which  the  lessons  are  to  be 
graded,  in  order  to  adapt  them  to  the  age  and  the  receptiveness 
of  the  child,  is  under  serious  debate.  Experiments  along  these 
lines,  especially  with  younger  children,  are  daily  throwing  more 
light  on  the  subject,  and  the  discussions  held  at  the  meetings  of 
the  primary  unions,  of  which  there  are  now  almost  four  hundred 
in  this  country,  are  bound  to  produce  practical  results. 

5.  Pedagogy.  —  Following  the  earnest  effort  made  to  exalt 
the  spiritual  aim  and  to  deepen  the  consecration  of  the  teacher,  a 
great  deal  of  thought  and  labor  has  been  expended  in  seeking  to 
raise  his  mental  standard,  and  to  increase  his  teaching  power. 
Formerly,  teachers'  meetings  were  unheard  of.  Now,  although 
the  statistics  are  not  complete,  we  know  that  between  eight  and 
nine  thousand  teachers'  meetings  are  held  regularly  throughout 
the  land.  In  the  majority  of  these  meetings  the  lesson  for  the 
coming  Sunday  is  taught. 

Besides  this,  teachers'  training  classes  have  sprung  up  rapidly, 
until  the  attendance  on  these  classes  has  reached  70,427. 
Many  teachers  go  through  an  entire  course  of  training  and 
receive  diplomas. 

The  theological  seminaries  of  the  land,  seeking  to  keep  abreast 
of  the  need  for  trained  teachers,  and  realizing  that  in  most  cases 
the  pastor  should  be  the  teacher  of  his  teachers,  have  sought 
to  meet  the  need  by  giving  courses  on  Child-Psychology  and 
Teacher-Training.  Some  have  even  gone  as  far  as  to  create 
professorships  whose  sole  purpose  is  to  bring  the  latest  research 
and  best  method  along  these  lines  into  the  regular  training  of  the 
theologue.  Further  than  this,  some  seminaries  have  had  the 
wisdom  to  ally  themselves  with  schools  of  pedagogy,  as,  for 
example,  the  Hartford  Theological  Seminary,  whose  honored 
president,  William  Douglas  Mackenzie,  is  also  the  president  of 
the  Hartford  School  of  Religious  Pedagogy. 

6.  Adult  Work.  —  Seventy-five  years  ago  the  thought  of 
large  classes  of  adults  studying  the  Bible  in  the  Sunday-school 
would  not  only  have  been  deemed  impracticable,  but  would 
have  been  pronounced  impossible.  During  the  last  few  years  a 
widespread  attempt  to  bring  adults  into  the  Sunday-school  has 
been  amazingly  successful.  The  scheme  of  an  organized  class, 
electing  its  own  president  and  other  officers,  ordering  its  own 
business,  seeking  by  committees  to  increase  its  membership, 


THE    SUNDAY-SCHOOL  409 

and  above  all  choosing  its  own  teacher,  is  a  plan  that  is  now- 
very  widely  adopted. 

Besides  those  who  are  able  to  attend  the  Sunday-school  ses- 
sions, there  are  thousands  who  are  now  enrolled  as  members  of 
the  school,  because  of  their  desire  and  promise  to  study  the  same 
lessons  at  home.  The  Home  Department,  unknown  compara- 
tively few  years  ago,  has  now  grown  to  number  525,242. 

These  facts  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  the  ideal  of  the  Sunday- 
school  seventy-five  years  ago  has  undergone  a  striking  change. 
At  that  time  the  dominating  thought  was:  The  child  must  be 
taught  the  Bible.  Now  the  ideal,  as  expressed  in  recent  Con- 
ventions, is  this:  Every  member  of  the  Church,  adult  as  well  as 
juvenile,  must  study  the  Word  of  God  in  order  that  he  may  more 
perfectly  know  the  way  of  life. 

in.  Inspiration  of  Other  Movements.  —  The  third  notable 
factor  in  the  Sunday-school  movement  of  the  last  seventy-five 
years  has  been  its  power  to  inspire  and  foster  other  movements 
that  have  made  for  the  uplift  of  the  citizen  in  general  and  for  the 
Christian  nurture  of  the  child  in  particular. 

1.  Juvenile  Literature.  —  The  Sunday-school  movement  has 
forced  every  generation  to  consider  the  welfare  of  the  coming 
generation.  The  study  of  Child-Psychology  has  led  to  dissat- 
isfaction with  the  former  children's  literature.  As  a  result, 
juvenile  literature  has  undergone  a  tremendous  change.  The 
few  trite,  amusingly  pious  books,  written  for  the  long-suffering 
child,  have  been  discarded;  and,  at  the  imperative  call  of  this 
new  movement  for  the  education  of  the  child  in  morals  and 
religion,  the  well-written  and  interesting  story  has  taken  its 
place. 

2.  Widespread  Bible  Study.  —  From  the  increased  interest  in 
modern  methods  of  studying  the  Bible  in  the  Sunday-school 
has  sprung  the  desire  on  the  part  of  the  leaders  of  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  and  Young  Women's  Christian 
Association  to  form  classes  in  Bible  study.  Some  of  the  best 
scholars  in  the  country  have  prepared  courses,  which  are  now 
in  use  in  these  institutions,  and  from  the  study  of  these  thou- 
sands are  gaining  definite  knowledge  of  the  Bible. 

The  whole  great  Chautauqua  movement  originated  in  the 
desire  for  a  better  knowledge  of  the  Bible  among  the  teachers 
of  the  Sunday-school.     Some  of  those  who  were  deeply  inter- 


4IO  RECENT  CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

ested  banded  themselves  together  in  this  study.  The  result 
to-day  is  the  central  Chautauqua,  with  its  250,000  scholars 
pursuing  various  courses,  secular  and  religious,  and  the  other 
Chautauquas,  scattered  all  over  the  country,  with  their  thousands 
of  students. 

3.  Religious  Education.  —  During  the  latter  part  of  the  pe- 
riod under  discussion  the  increasing  interest  in  Sunday-school 
problems  led  a  number  of  educators,  among  whom  President 
Harper  of  Chicago  University  was  preeminent,  to  the  formation 
of  the  Religious  Education  Association.  The  three  main  objects 
of  this  Association  were,  to  inspire  the  educational  forces  of  our 
country  with  the  religious  ideal,  to  inspire  the  religious  forces  of 
the  land  with  the  educational  ideal,  and  to  keep  before  the  pub- 
lic mind  the  ideal  religious  education  and  the  sense  of  its  need 
and  value.  With  millions  upon  millions  of  dollars  spent  on  our 
public  school  system,  it  was  felt  that  the  moral  and  religious 
education  of  the  child  was  sadly  neglected.  Although  the  Sun- 
day-school was  doing  magnificent  work,  the  broader  work  of 
reaching  the  educational  forces  of  the  country  with  the  religious 
ideal  must  be  carried  on  by  a  great  campaign  of  education  along 
these  three  lines.  As  a  result,  some  cities  are  already  beginning 
to  wake  up,  to  ask  questions,  and  to  propose  plans  by  which  they 
hope  to  give  their  children  better  opportunities  for  moral  and 
religious  training. 

4.  Church  Unity.  —  Out  of  the  Sunday-school  of  these  last 
seventy-five  years  has  grown  a  vigorous  movement  towards  the 
breaking  down  of  the  barriers  between  various  Protestant 
denominations.  The  united  work  on  a  uniform  lesson  system ; 
the  frequent  state,  national,  and  international  conventions,  all 
of  which  are  interdenominational ;  the  confessed  urgency  of  the 
child  problem,  an  urgency  impatient  of  any  denominational 
diflferences  or  disputes;  the  united  efforts  of  the  ripest  scholar- 
ship of  all  denominations  in  the  production  and  publication  of 
a  body  of  literature  bearing  on  the  Sunday-school  lessons  — 
all  this  active  and  effective  cooperation  has  helped  to  link  the 
denominations  together  and  to  reveal  their  intrinsic  and  essential 
unity. 

5.  The  Banishing  of  the  Saloon.  —  Without  question  the 
Sunday-school  has  been  one  of  the  great  contributing  forces  to 
the  temperance  wave  that  with  such  irresistible  momentum  has 


THE   SUNDAY-SCHOOL  411 

been  sweeping  over  this  country.  The  constant  warning  against 
the  evils  of  strong  drink,  and  the  faithful  teaching  of  Christian 
self-mastery  in  the  Sunday-schools  of  the  land,  have  had  this 
effect.  Just  how  far  the  Sunday-school  has  helped  in  making 
the  saloon  illegal  in  more  than  one-half  of  the  territory  of  the 
United  States,  no  one  will  ever  know.  But  the  frequent  teach- 
ing of  temperance  lessons,  although  difficult  for  the  teacher  and 
sometimes  distasteful  to  the  scholar,  has  been,  and  will  continue 
to  be,  a  potent  influence  for  righteousness  in  the  education  and 
molding  of  public  opinion. 

6.  Foreign  Missions.  —  The  Sunday  school  is  largely  respon- 
sible for  the  growing  interest  of  this  generation  in  foreign  mis- 
sions. Through  these  seventy-five  years,  with  a  crescendo  of 
enthusiasm,  not  only  has  the  story  of  missions  been  rehearsed ; 
but  "Morning  Stars,"  paid  for  by  children,  have  been  sent 
across  the  seas;  Sunday-schools  have  supported  their  own 
missionaries  in  China,  Africa,  India,  and  other  lands,  until  the 
farthest  islands  of  the  sea  have  become  friends  and  neighbors. 
Thus,  just  as  this  nation  suddenly  finds  itself  forced  into  a  posi- 
tion of  international  leadership,  the  Sunday-school  population 
of  this  land,  educated  to  a  new  sense  of  world-responsibility,  is 
ready  to  have  a  large  share  in  the  molding  of  the  thought  and 
the  solving  of  the  problems  of  the  world.  The  growing  movement 
towards  international  peace  promises  in  the  near  future  to  derive 
its  most  effective  backing  and  its  stanchest  support  from  those 
who  in  the  Sunday-schools  of  this  land  have  been  trained  to  a 
world-wide  interest. 

It  has  been  impossible  in  this  brief  survey  of  seventy-five  years 
of  Sunday-school  development  in  the  United  States  to  do  more 
than  point  out  a  few  of  the  great  changes  that  have  been  taking 
place,  as  well  as  the  splendid  proportions  to  which  this  movement 
has  grown.  The  record  of  the  past  is  remarkable,  but  the  prom- 
ise of  the  future,  based  upon  a  study  of  that  record,  is  bound  to 
stimulate  the  energy  and  to  arouse  the  enthusiasm,  not  only  of 
the  man  who  at  present  is  engaged  in  this  great  movement,  but 
of  every  one  who  has  the  welfare  of  this  nation  at  heart  and  who 
acknowledges  Christ  as  his  Master. 


THE   RELIGIOUS   ACTIVITY   OF   YOUNG 
PEOPLE   WITHIN   THE   CHURCH 

Rev.  Frederick  Walter  Greene 
South  Congregational  Church,  Middletown,  Conn. 

"The  greatest  discovery  of  the  nineteenth  century  has  been 
the  rediscovery  of  the  child.  In  the  first  century  of  our  era 
Jesus  took  a  child  and  set  him  in  the  midst,  and  he  has  done  it 
again  at  the  close  of  the  last." 

So  said  Dr.  Jefferson  at  the  second  meeting  of  the  International 
Congregational  Council,  speaking  of  the  three  great  movements 
for  and  by  the  young  people,  which  are  generally  recognized  as 
the  most  notable  development  of  organized  religion  in  modern 
times  —  the  Sunday-school,  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation, and  the  Societies  of  Christian  Endeavor.  Our  thought 
is  confined  in  this  paper  to  the  organizations  of  young  people 
within  the  Church. 

It  is  hard  to  trace  the  human  development  of  this  movement, 
for  its  genesis  is  hidden  in  the  wise  purpose  of  the  Creating 
Spirit  who  constantly  broods  over,  and  moves  within  the  life 
of  the  Church,  to  will  and  to  do  of  His  own  good  pleasure.  For 
however  imperfectly  this  movement  may  have  been  wrought 
out  by  man,  it  was  certainly  inwrought  of  God. 

Dr.  Clark  thinks  he  finds  a  prototype  of  the  Christian  En- 
deavor Society  in  Cotton  Mather's  time.  But  I  think  we  are 
more  likely  to  find  the  inducing  influence  in  the  class-meetings 
of  the  Methodist  Church;  while  the  development  of  problems 
and  limitations  in  the  Sunday-school  probably  turned  the 
thoughts  of  the  Church  to  the  need  of  some  training  of  the  young 
in  preparation  for  church-membership  and  activity.  Bushnell's 
Christian  Nurture  convinced  thoughtful  pastors  that  there  was 
something  wrong  in  the  Church's  attitude  toward  her  children ; 
that  a  place  must  be  made  for  them  in  the  organic  life  of  the 
Church,  and  that  it  must  be  a  place  where  they  could  grow. 

412 


RELIGIOUS   ACTIVITY    OF   YOUNG   PEOPLE     413 

Lend-a-Hand  Societies 

One  of  the  earliest,  simplest,  and  most  effective  attempts  to 
stir  younger  Christians  to  Christlike  activity  was  made  by 
that  wonderful  impersonation  and  teacher  of  practical  idealism, 
Rev.  Edward  Everett  Hale,  who  in  the  year  1870  published  his 
stimulating  story  entitled  Ten  Times  One  is  Ten.  The  story 
has  been  called  "a  translation  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  into 
the  dialect  of  nineteenth-century  America."  It  told  how,  through 
the  inspiration  and  ideals  of  a  short  but  noble  life,  ten  of  Harry 
Wadsworth's  friends  were  led  to  unite  in  an  aspiring  purpose  of 
loving  service,  cherishing  his  optimistic  mottoes:  "Look  up  and 
not  down ;  Look  forward  and  not  back ;  Look  out  and  not  in ; 
and  Lend  a  hand."  In  the  story  the  first  ten  were  scattered,  and 
each  became  the  nucleus  of  another  ten,  and  the  groups  multi- 
plying by  ten  every  few  years,  at  the  end  of  little  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  century,  the  whole  race  had  accepted  the  Christian 
motive  of  faith,  hope,  and  love. 

As  the  result  of  this  little  book,  the  first  Lend-a-Hand  Society 
was  founded  in  1870,  and  it  really  did  spread  so  rapidly  that 
twenty-five  years  later  the  secretary  of  "The  Ten  Times  One 
Corporation"  said:  "It  is  simply  impossible  to  know  the  num- 
ber of  the  persons  who  have  chosen  these  mottoes  for  their  own. 
Orders  have  been  formed  that  have  multiplied  with  vigor. 
Clubs  are  reported  of  which  the  central  ofiice  knew  nothing. 
New  clubs  are  forming,  and  old  ones  are  disbanding.  Though 
they  do  disband,  often  single  members,  cherishing  the  mottoes, 
wait  until  the  time  shall  come  when,  in  far  away  towns  or 
countries,  they  may  form  a  new  ten." 

From  this  root  have  also  grown  more  than  half  a  dozen  other 
orders,  including  that  of  the  King's  Sons  and  King's  Daughters, 
which  alone  at  the  end  of  the  first  ten  years  numbered  over 
400,000.  These  societies  base  their  unity  not  so  much  upon  a 
constitution  or  special  form,  as  upon  loyalty  to  a  common 
principle,  and  rely  almost  wholly  upon  personal  influence, 
rather  than  upon  organized  effort,  to  foster  and  propagate  them; 
they  emphasize  cooperation,  personality,  and  optimism.  "In 
the  development  of  the  idea,"  they  say,  "the  direction  specially 
pointed  out  is  first  the  heart,  next  the  home,  then  the  church, 
and  after  that  the  great  outside."  These  organizations  have 
been  only  indirectly  associated  with  the  churches. 


414  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

The  Societies  of  Christian  Endeavor 

In  1 88 1  Rev.  Francis  E.  Clark,  pastor  of  the  Williston  Church 
in  Portland,  Me.,  wrought  out  with  his  young  people  a  form  of 
organization  which  they  entitled  "A  Society  of  Christian  En- 
deavor." 

Its  object  was  to  encourage  loyalty  to  Christ  and  the  Church, 
and  it  became  the  mother  of  a  long  list  of  societies  which  have 
for  their  end  the  association  of  the  young  people  of  the  individual 
church  for  Christian  nurture  and  Christian  culture.  To  be 
sure,  the  Chautauqua  circles,  beginning  about  the  same  time 
as  the  "Ten  Times  One"  movement,  had  been  devoted  to  Chris- 
tian culture,  but,  in  its  close  alliance  with  the  church  and  its 
direct  appeal  for  loyalty  to  worship  and  work,  the  Christian 
Endeavor  Society  was  unique.  Its  rapid  and  stupendous 
growth  is  a  matter  of  familiar  knowledge,  and  is  phenomenal 
in  the  history  of  Protestantism.  In  1909  it  numbered  71,224 
societies  with  a  membership  of  over  3,500,000. 

In  some  form  or  another  its  essential  principles  have  been 
adopted  in  almost  every  Protestant  denomination  of  America. 
It  has  a  strong  hold  in  England  and  on  the  Continent,  and  has 
gone  around  the  world  in  mission  lands. 

The  secret  of  its  success,  from  the  human  side,  may  be  found 
in  the  simplicity  of  its  organization,  the  directness  of  its  aim, 
and  its  immediate  appeal  to  the  loyalty  and  enthusiasm  of 
young  Christian  hearts.  It  has  sounded  in  their  ears  the 
trump  of  duty,  and  at  the  same  time  given  them  a  recognized 
place  in  the  life  of  the  church. 

Its  pledge  calls  its  active  membership  to  loyalty  to  Christ  and 
the  Church,  expressed  in  a  promise  to  do  whatsoever  Christ 
would  like  to  have  them  do.  To  be  faithful  in  attendance  at 
church  services,  and  specially,  to  be  present  and  take  some  active 
part  in  the  devotional  meeting  of  the  Society. 

This  devotional  service  it  makes  the  center  of  the  society's 
life;  all  the  activities  of  the  various  committees  radiate  from 
this.  In  this,  Christian  Endeavor  is  in  contrast  to  the  "Lend-a- 
Hand"  Societies;  for  they  approached  the  personal  religious  life 
as  a  requisite  to  sustain  and  direct  them  in  their  purpose  of 
unselfish  service,  while  the  Christian  Endeavor  Societies  approach 
the  unselfish  service  of  the  church  and  the  community  as  an  ex- 


RELIGIOUS   ACTIVITY    OF    YOUNG   PEOPLE 


415 


pression  and  natural  consequence  of  their  contemplation  of  and 
fellowship  with  Christ  in  their  devotional  life.  Certainly  both 
elements  are  essential  in  the  Christian  life;  as  to  which  is  the 
most  natural  approach  for  the  average  adolescent,  there  may  be 
a  diflference  of  opinion.  But  psychologists  tell  us  that,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  both  methods  of  approach  are  common  in  ex- 
perience. The  prayer-meeting  pledge,  which  is  the  central  point 
of  attack  for  critics  of  Christian  Endeavor,  has  the  great  merit 
of  requiring  regularity  until  the  habit  of  spiritual  thinking  and 
devotion  is  established,  and  self-expression  becomes  compara- 
tively free. 

The  Christian  Endeavor  movement  has  done  a  great  deal 
for  the  Church.  It  has  helped  to  develop  her  lay  membership 
in  spiritual  thought  and  activity.  It  has  kept  alive  the  embers 
of  social  religion  in  many  communities  unable  to  support  a 
church.  It  has  done  much  to  make  practical  the  hope  of  Church 
unity,  or  at  least  Church  federation;  for  the  great  host  of  the 
Church  of  the  future,  trained  in  societies  of  this  nature,  though 
under  their  own  denominational  names,  will  have  learned  that 
the  essentials  of  fellowship  in  worship  and  service  may  be  pre- 
served under  a  very  simple  organization.  And  when  the  time 
comes  for  them  to  get  together  as  Churches,  it  will  not  seem  to 
be  such  an  impossible  task  after  all. 

But, best  of  all,  it  has  focussed  the  thought  of  the  Church  upon 
the  young,  and  helped  her  to  realize  the  vital  importance  and 
present  weakness  of  her  religious  training. 

The  Christian  Endeavor  Societies  were  at  first  established  for 
and  maintained  by  the  older  adolescents  and  young  men  and 
women  of  the  churches.  They  gradually  began  to  realize  the 
need  of  religious  training  for  younger  adolescents  and  children. 
They  thereupon  established  Junior  Societies  of  a  similar  nature 
to  the  senior.  Wise  leaders  could  not  always  be  found  for  these, 
and  the  young  people  themselves  undertook  to  maintain  them, 
and  being  untrained  and  undisciplined  themselves,  they  could 
not  always  control  or  profitably  conduct  them. 

Moreover,  though  spiritual  thought,  and  self-expression  of  the 
same,  may  be  most  important  and  necessary  for  the  development 
of  character  toward  the  end  of  its  adolescent  period,  at  its  be- 
ginning and  during  childhood,  almost  all  psychologists  and 
practical  educators  agree  that  they  are  out  of  place.     Religion 


4i6  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

appeals  to  children,  and  finds  its  natural  expression  in  action 
rather  than  devotion,  and  the  attempt  to  force  the  devotional 
attitude  under  the  pressure  of  duty,  produces  in  their  piety  only 
the  unsatisfactory  flavor  of  prematurely  ripened  fruit. 

The  observation  and  appreciation  of  this  fact,  together  v^ith 
the  recent  psychological  investigation  of  the  child  mind,  led  to  an 
effort  to  prepare  some  kind  of  an  organization  for  the  younger 
children,  boys  especially,  which  would  bring  religion  to  them  in 
a  form  which  would  appeal  to  the  natural  instincts  of  adolescents 
in  the  first  stages  of  their  transition  to  manhood. 

The  Knights  of  King  Arthur 

Dr.  William  B.  Forbush,  then  a  pastor  in  Massachusetts, 
and  studying  in  Clark  University,  published  a  valuable  little 
book  entitled  The  Boy  Problem,  which  embodied  the  results 
of  his  investigation  into  the  psychology  of  boyhood.  In  it  he 
presented  a  careful  analysis  of  the  elements  in  different  organiza- 
tions for  young  people  which  would  be  most  likely  to  awaken  a 
natural  response  from  the  boy.  And,  among  others,  he  suggested 
a  plan  of  organization  called  the  Knights  of  King  Arthur,  which 
he  himself  had  used,  and  which  had  been  specially  planned  to 
appeal  to  the  religious  instincts  of  boys  from  twelve  to  seventeen. 
It  may  well  serve  as  an  example  of  the  more  recent  efforts  to 
make  use  of  the  psychological  discoveries  concerning  child  nature 
in  the  Church's  attempt  to  meet  the  religious  needs  of  her  young 
people. 

This  characteristic  order  of  the  Knights  of  King  Arthur  is 
modeled  after  the  college  fraternity.  It  presents  the  boys  with 
the  chivalric  type  of  Christian  manhood.  It  makes  Christian 
knighthood  our  ideal,  and  glorifies  it  as  representing  the  highest 
type  of  service  —  a  service  rendered  neither  from  compulsion, 
nor  for  the  sake  of  reward,  but  from  the  joyous  instincts  of  love 
and  chivalry.  It  presents  the  Christian  life  as  service,  self- 
mastery,  and  self-sacrifice,  and  leads  the  boy  into  it  through  three 
degrees:  first,  that  of  the  Page,  whose  motto  is  "I  serve"  ;  then 
that  of  the  Esquire,  whose  virtues  are  "Purity,  Temperance,  and 
Reverence"  ;  and  third,  Knighthood,  which  follows  only  an  open 
confession  of  Jesus  Christ,  whose  virtues  are  Faith,  Hope,  and 
Love,  and  whose  quest  is  self -forgetting  service  for  Christ  and  the 


RELIGIOUS   ACTIVITY    OF   YOUNG    PEOPLE     417 

Church.  The  individual  group  of  boys  is  called  a  Castle,  and 
is  under  the  direction  of  a  Merlin  who  in  an  advisory  capacity 
directs  the  interests  and  conduct  of  the  Castle. 

The  psychologic  merit  of  the  order  is  that  it  brings  to  the  boy, 
when  he  is  passing  through  that  stage  of  development  which  in 
the  history  of  mankind  was  called  the  age  of  chivalry,  just 
that  type  of  religious  motive  which  appealed  to  the  race  most 
strongly  when  it  had  reached  that  period. 

Many  pastors  and  leaders  of  boys,  who  have  made  a  practical 
use  of  this  organization,  have  found  these  theories  quite  aston- 
ishingly confirmed  by  experience.  There  are  at  present  over 
thirteen  hundred  Castles  in  churches  of  different  denominations, 
in  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations,  and  in  public  and 
private  schools,  but  it  is  peculiarly  adapted  for  work  in  the  in- 
dividual church. 

The  general  development  of  the  young  people's  movement  at 
present  seems  to  the  writer  to  point  to  a  most  hopeful  era  in  the 
history  of  the  Church,  to  which  this  period  of  large  organizations 
for  young  people  is  only  the  introductory  chapter.  The  ideals 
of  a  noble  type  of  religious  education  are  coming  to  the  front  in 
the  thought  of  all  progressive  Protestant  churches,  and  they  will 
mold  the  young  people's  organizations,  so  that  they  will  be  better 
adapted  to  develop  symmetrically  the  unfolding  religious  and 
spiritual  characters  of  their  members.  I  think,  also,  that  in  the 
future  there  will  be  a  closer  guidance  of,  and  coordination  with, 
the  young  people's  societies  on  the  part  of  the  local  church. 
She  will  accept,  as  her  most  vital  and  hopeful  line  of  spiritual 
activity,  the  education  of  the  young  people,  not  only  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  Scripture,  but  also  in  the  theory  and  practice  of  public 
worship.  Further,  if  the  present  trend  of  pedagogical  thought 
continues,  there  will  be  in  the  future  a  larger  recognition  of  the 
play  instinct  of  childhood  as  a  part  of  their  moral  training,  and 
as  much  serious,  prayerful  supervision  will  be  given  to  the  play- 
grounds, and  the  developing  social  interests  of  the  boys  and  girls, 
as  to  their  training  in  Sunday-school  or  prayer-meeting. 


VIII.     ALLIED   AGENCIES 
THE  YOUNG  MEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATION 

Howard  Arnold  Walter,  M.A.,  B.D. 

Hastford  Theological  Seminary 

The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  is  fifty-five  years  old. 
It  was  born  on  June  6,  1844,  as  a  result  of  the  prayers  of  two 
young  men,  in  an  upper  room  in  London,  where  George  Williams, 
then  a  draper's  assistant,  slept  and  prayed.  The  original 
number  of  those  disciples  of  the  Master,  whose  prayers  and  zeal 
laid  the  foundation  of  a  work  of  such  magnitude,  was  twelve. 
Commencing  in  that  upper  room,  in  St.  Paul's  Churchyard, 
among  fellow-employees  of  one  establishment,  it  spread  rapidly 
through  other  drapery  concerns,  and  then  into  different  trades 
throughout  the  city.  Beginning  thus,  it  has  stretched  out,  in 
widening  circles,  through  all  England,  America,  and  Europe, 
and  unto  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth.  At  its  inception  a 
movement  designed  to  meet  the  neglected  spiritual  needs  of 
young  men  in  business  employment,  it  has  ramified  into  all 
classes  of  working  men,  and  has  found  a  threefold  sphere  of 
usefulness  in  serving  the  minds  and  the  bodies,  as  well  as  the 
souls,  of  men.  Within  the  scope  of  this  brief  paper  the  most 
that  can  be  done  is  to  trace  the  beginnings  and  barely  to  indicate 
the  main  lines  of  the  development  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association,  as  it  has  reached  out,  extensively,  into  all  lands, 
and,  intensively,  along  the  entire  range  of  the  needs  of  every 
class  of  young  men. 

The  home  of  the  Association  was  Radley's  Hotel  in  Bridge 
Street,  Blackfriars,  until  1849,  when  it  moved  into  more  commo- 
dious quarters  in  Gresham  Street.  From  the  start  the  movement 
gained  rapidly  in  dignity  and  numbers,  owing  to  the  wise  policy 
of  George  Williams  in  identifying  with  its  activities  men  of 
national  repute  such  as  Lord  Shaftesbury,  the  Lord  Mayor  of 
London,  and  Hon.  Arthur  F.  Kinnaird.     At  the  first  anniversary, 

418 


YOUNG   MEN'S   CHRISTIAN   ASSOCIATION     419 

Nov.  6,  1845,  three  hundred  and  thirty-five  persons,  number- 
ing among  them  many  noted  clergymen  and  prominent  business 
men,  sat  down  to  tea  at  Radley's  Hotel.  At  this  time  the  Asso- 
ciation included  in  its  membership  one  hundred  and  sixty  young 
men  from  eighteen  commercial  houses  of  London,  branch  As- 
sociations had  been  established  in  different  sections  of  London, 
and  a  paid  secretary,  Mr.  T.  H.  Tarleton,  had  been  elected  to 
supervise  the  movement.  Under  the  lead  of  Mr.  Tarleton,  in 
1846,  deputations  were  sent  to  Manchester,  Liverpool,  Taunton, 
Exeter,  and  Leeds,  where  Associations  were  organized,  and  thus 
the  movement,  which  up  to  this  time  had  been  metropolitan, 
became  national.  By  the  close  of  the  year  1848  branches  had 
been  established  also  in  seven  other  cities,  and  the  membership 
of  the  London  Association  had  increased  to  four  hundred  and 
eighty. 

Three  years  later,  in  185 1,  the  year  which  has  been  considered 
as  marking  the  end  of  the  formative  period  of  the  British  work, 
there  w^ere  enrolled  in  the  eight  London  Associations  and  the 
sixteen  provincial  branches  twenty-seven  hundred  men,  including, 
at  this  time,  associate  members.  In  1858  the  number  had  swelled 
to  eighty-five  hundred. 

The  year  185 1  is  important  in  another  direction  as  marking 
the  emergence  of  the  Association  into  the  arena  of  the  wider 
world.  In  that  year  the  first "  World's  Fair"  was  held  in  London, 
drawing  to  that  capital  strangers  from  all  parts  of  the  civilized 
globe.  Among  these  visitors,  as  well  as  among  the  young  men 
of  the  United  Kingdom  in  attendance,  352,000  tracts  were  dis- 
tributed containing  "direct  and  affectionate  statements  of  the 
Gospel,"  as  well  as  an  invitation,  which  was  largely  accepted, 
to  visit  the  rooms  of  the  Association.  Thus  was  the  seed  of  the 
Association-idea  sown  broadcast.  In  this  year,  likewise,  the 
Association  crossed  the  Atlantic  and  established  itself,  first  in 
Montreal,  then  in  Boston.  The  genesis  of  the  Boston  Associa- 
tion was  a  letter,  written  to  the  Watchman  and  Reflector  by  a 
Columbia  post-graduate  student  in  Edinburgh  University, 
which  came  to  the  attention  of  Mr.  J.  V.  Sullivan,  a  retired  sea- 
captain.  Through  his  efforts,  following  a  visit  to  the  Association 
in  London,  the  Boston  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  was 
founded,  having  for  its  object  "  the  improvement  of  the  spiritual 
and  mental  condition  of  young  men."    An  Evangelical  basis  of 


420  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

membership  was  finally  resolved  upon,  despite  the  prevalence  of 
Unitarianism  and  Universalism  in  Boston  at  that  time.  The  new 
Association  grew  with  mushroom-like  rapidity.  In  five  months 
it  had  enrolled  twelve  hundred  members,  and  in  eighteen  months, 
in  1853,  it  was  housed  in  handsome  quarters  in  Tremont  Temple, 
which  it  occupied  for  many  years.  Already  in  that  year  the 
Association  had  spread  to  twenty-two  American  cities,  and  had 
reached  a  total  of  two  hundred  and  thirty  societies  throughout  the 
world.  On  June  7,  1854,  at  "the  first  convention  of  leaders  in 
specific  work  for  young  men  in  an  English-speaking  country 
which  ever  assembled,"  convened  at  Buffalo  and  attended  by 
thirty-seven  delegates  from  nineteen  Associations  in  the  United 
States  and  Canada,  a  North  American  Confederation  was  formed 
for  mutual  encouragement,  cooperation,  and  usefulness. 

Meanwhile  the  movement  among  young  men  had  crossed 
the  Channel  from  England  into  Europe.  In  1848  in  Elberfeld, 
Germany,  the  Westfalischer  JungUngsvereins-Bund  was  formed, 
an  Alliance  whose  roots  stretched  back,  through  the  Young 
Men's  Union,  founded  in  Bremen  in  1834,  to  a  religious  associa- 
tion for  the  young  men  of  his  congregation  organized  by  a  Swiss 
minister,  Pastor  Mayennock,  at  Basle,  in  1708.  In  March,  1852, 
through  the  direct  agency  of  George  Williams,  a  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  was  founded  in  Paris,  and  this  was  fol- 
lowed in  December  of  that  year  by  an  Association  in  Geneva.  By 
1855,  at  nearly  two  hundred  points  on  the  Continent,  there  were 
Associations  with  a  total  enrollment  of  seventy-eight  hundred 
and  sixty;  and  in  addition,  there  were  Associations  in  Algiers, 
at  Constantinople,  at  Beirut,  and  three  in  Australia.  The  total 
number  of  Associations  in  the  world  was  now  three  hundred  and 
twenty-nine,  with  a  membership  of  thirty  thousand.  During  the 
year  1855,  at  a  representative  gathering  in  Paris,  a  great  for- 
ward step  was  taken  in  the  formation  of  the  World's  Alliance  of 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations,  the  suggestion  for  the 
Alliance  emanating  from  Rev.  Abel  Stevens  of  the  vigorous 
New  York  Association.  The  celebrated  "Paris  Basis,"  there 
drawn  up,  which  was  destined  to  be  adopted  by  other  Associa- 
tions the  world  over,  and  to  exert  a  remarkable  steadying  and 
solidifying  influence,  was  in  part  as  follows:  "The  Young 
Men's  Christian  Associations  seek  to  unite  those  young  men  who, 
regarding  Jesus  Christ  as  their  God  and  Saviour,  according  to  the 


YOUNG    MEN'S    CHRISTIAN   ASSOCIATION     421 

Holy  Scriptures,  desire  to  be  His  disciples  in  their  doctrine  and 
in  their  life,  and  to  associate  their  efforts  for  the  extension  of  His 
Kingdom  among  young  men." 

From  this  time  forth  the  radiating  center  of  the- Association- 
movement  was  New  York  City,  the  home  of  the  International 
Committee  after  the  year  1866;  and  in  America,  where  its 
activities  have  been  most  comprehensive  and  most  extraordinary, 
the  work  and  progress  of  the  movement  can  best  be  studied. 
Its  larger  possibilities  were  here  recognized  from  the  first.  As 
early  as  1852,  in  the  Constitution  of  the  New  York  branch,  the 
movement  was  declared  to  concern  "  the  spiritual,  mental,  and 
social  condition  of  young  men."  In  1854,  in  the  reports  of  the 
Brooklyn  Association,  attention  was  called  to  the  importance  of 
physical  exercise  on  the  part  of  young  men,  and  in  1869  the  first 
well-equipped  gymnasium  under  Association  control  was  opened 
in  New  York  City.  The  movement  in  America  thus  became, 
almost  from  its  inception,  even  more  of  a  factor  in  the  nation's 
life  than  in  England,  where  its  methods  were  primarily  spiritual, 
and  only  to  a  limited  extent  educational  and  social.  In  1869 
we  find  the  young  American  Association,  eighteen  years  old, 
with  over  five  hundred  metropolitan  branches,  with  the  work 
centering  in  New  York,  where  the  Association  in  that  year  moved 
into  its  fine  new  quarters  on  Twenty-third  Street,  with  such  promi- 
nent and  powerful  men  as  William  E.Dodge,  George  H.  Stewart, 
Cephas  Brainerd,  and  the  young  secretaries,  R.  R.  McBurney 
and  R.  C.  Morse,  as  leaders,  and  with  the  accent  already  placed 
upon  the  fourfold  activities  of  the  Association  propaganda 
—  spiritual,  mental,  physical,  and  social.  The  succeeding 
period,  lasting  until  1890,  was  one  which  combined  constructive 
effort  with  pioneering  in  unexploited  fields,  and  produced  an 
amazing  expansion.  Up  to  this  time  the  unit  had  been  the 
individual  city  Association.  In  1869  the  Field  Department 
of  the  International  Committee  was  organized  with  Robert 
Weidensall  and  Richard  C.  Morse  (still  living  and  active  in  the 
Association-movement)  as  the  first  two  employed  officers. 
This  central  unifying  department  was  to  take  charge  of  the  city 
and  town,  the  state,  provincial,  and  county  organizations,  and 
it  marked  the  beginning  of  work  for  special  classes  of  young  men. 

With  the  Association  thoroughly  organized  for  effective  ser- 
vice, and  with  its  fourfold  gospel  defined,  it  is  now  necessary 


422  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

for  us  to  leave  the  trunk-line  of  the  movement's  advance  and  fol- 
low the  progress  and  expansion  of  work  along  a  few  of  the  more 
important  branches.  There  are  given  in  the  Year-Book  to-day 
fifteen  departments  of  Association  work,  as  follows :  Office  and 
Publication,  Business  and  Finance,  Association  Men,  Field, 
County,  Railroad,  Industrial,  Student,  Army  and  Navy,  Colored, 
Religious,  Educational,  Physical,  Boys,  Secretarial.  The  skilled 
management  of  such  an  array  of  departments  obviously  calls  for 
capable  leadership  and  thorough  organization,  and  for  these  the 
Association  has  been  noted.  Wherever  men's  needs  have  been 
greatest  and  their  temptations  fiercest,  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  has  pressed  in  with  its  adaptable,  virile 
service,  and  its  growth  has  therefore  been  both  natural  and 
inevitable.  A  few  representative  instances  of  beginnings  and 
developments  must  suffice. 

The  Army  and  Navy  Department  was  created  out  of  the 
exigencies  of  the  war  with  Spain.  In  the  earlier  Civil  War 
the  Association  had  acted  through  its  organ,  the  United  States 
Christian  Commission,  whose  chairman  was  Mr.  George  H. 
Stewart.  Bibles,  hymn-books,  tracts,  and  magazines  were  dis- 
tributed by  the  hundreds  of  thousands,  and  fifty-eight  thousand 
sermons  were  preached  to  the  soldiers.  But  it  was  with  the 
outbreak  of  the  Spanish  War  that  the  permanent  work  of  the 
Association  for  army  and  navy  commenced.  Ninety  large  and 
thoroughly  equipped  tents  were  maintained,  and  eight  thousand 
soldiers  publicly  professed  Christ  during  the  summer  of  1898. 
The  beneficent  work  of  the  Association  is  now  going  forward  in 
army  stations,  and  on  transports  and  battleships  the  world  over. 
The  work  of  the  courageous,  resourceful  secretaries  for  Japan 
on  the  fields  of  Manchuria  during  the  Russo-Japanese  War 
proved  one  of  the  most  telling  blows  ever  struck  for  missions  in 
the  Far  East. 

The  Railroad  Department  of  the  Association  has  been  char- 
acterized by  President  Roosevelt  as  exemplifying  in  practice 
what  he  likes  to  preach  —  "the  combination  of  efficiency  with 
decent  living  and  high  ideals."  Formed  in  Cleveland  in  1872, 
engaging  its  first  permanent  secretary  in  1877,  it  now  numbers 
two  hundred  and  forty-two  branches,  with  eighty-six  thousand 
members  and  nine  supervising  secretaries.  In  the  larger  termi- 
nal cities  the  Association  occupies  substantial  buildings  with 


YOUNG   MEN'S   CHRISTIAN   ASSOCIATION     423 

baths,  restaurants,  libraries,  correspondence-rooms,  pool-rooms, 
and  bowling  alleys  —  open  day  and  night.  Slowly  the  Associa- 
tion railway  club  is  driving  out  its  arch-enemy,  the  saloon,  and 
is  establishing  itself  in  the  hearts  of  employers  and  employees. 

The  Colored  Department  comprises  ninety-one  Associations 
with  nearly  five  thousand  members,  including  both  city  and 
student  work.  That  the  Association,  drawing  together  the  best 
in  both  races,  is  proving  to  be  a  real  factor  in  the  solution  of  the 
race  problem  was  shown  by  the  fact  that  when  Atlanta,  Ga.,  was 
mob-ridden,  two  years  ago,  leading  Christians  of  both  races 
met  in  the  building  of  the  colored  men's  department  of  the 
Association,  and  formulated  plans  which  speedily  brought  con- 
cord and  confidence  out  of  the  mutually  disgraceful  disorder. 

The  work  and  spread  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion among  students  has  been  almost  phenomenal.  Initiated 
as  an  intercollegiate  movement  in  1877  with  twenty-six  As- 
sociations and  thirteen  hundred  members,  there  were  last  year 
in  North  America  seven  hundred  and  sixty-three  student  Associa- 
tions with  a  reported  membership  of  fifty-seven  thousand.  In  ad- 
dition to  the  work  for  students  carried  on  in  the  colleges  and  pro- 
fessional schools,  and  now  in  preparatory  schools  and  even  high 
schools,  summer  conferences  are  held  at  various  central  points 
to  train  and  develop  leaders,  and  the  Publication  Department 
issues  a  paper  dealing  with  the  college  work.  Within  the  bounds 
of  the  Association,  under  its  inspiring  leadership,  have  sprung 
into  life  two  great,  world-encircling  movements;  the  Student 
Volunteer  Movement  for  Foreign  Missions,  born  at  Mt.  Hermon, 
Massachusetts,  in  1886,  as  a  direct  result  of  the  efforts  of  Robert 
Wilder  of  Princeton,  and  the  World's  Student  Christian  Federa- 
tion, founded  in  1895  at  Vadstena,  Sweden,  one  of  the  numerous 
significant  incidents  with  which  the  first  world-tour  of  student- 
centers  by  Mr.  John  R.  Mott  teemed.  It  was  my  good  fortune, 
within  the  space  of  two  years,  to  attend  as  a  delegate  the  latest 
gatherings  of  all  three  of  those  great  movements  —  the  Student 
Volunteers  at  Nashville  in  March,  1906,  the  Student  Federation 
at  Tokyo  in  April,  1907,  and  the  International  Association  proper 
at  Washington  in  November,  1907.  At  each  of  these,  as  I  saw 
upon  the  platform  many  of  the  same  leaders  and  speakers,  and 
joined  in  singing  the  same  militant  battle-hymns  of  the  Church, 
and  felt  the  same  tonic  atmosphere  of  the  blended  love  and  en- 


424  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

thusiasm  of  youth,  I  realized  increasingly  the  significance  of  this 
comprehensive,  united  movement  among  the  young  people  of  all 
lands. 

To  give  an  idea  of  the  present  size  of  the  movement,  a  few- 
statistics  are  culled  from  the  latest  Year-Book.  There  are  in 
North  America,  according  to  the  latest  reports  sent  in,  nineteen 
hundred  and  thirty-nine  Associations,  with  twenty-five  hundred 
and  forty-four  secretaries,  and  an  aggregate  membership  of  four 
hundred  and  forty-six  thousand.  There  are  eighty-eight  thou- 
sand men  enrolled  in  Bible  classes,  forty-five  thousand  in  educa- 
tional classes,  and  one  hundred  and  nine  thousand  in  gymnasium 
classes.  Thus  ideals  of  spiritual,  mental,  and  physical  sound- 
ness are  preached  by  the  Association  and  practised  by  its  mem- 
bers, who  through  its  efforts  are  becoming  constantly  more  useful 
citizens  of  the  nation  whose  flag  they  own.  The  grand  total  of 
Associations  in  all  forty-five  lands  numbers  seventy-nine  hundred 
and  forty-two,  with  a  membership  of  eight  hundred  eleven  thou- 
sand, a  little  less  than  double  the  membership  in  North  America 
alone.  Twenty-three  countries  outside  of  the  United  States 
have  national  committees. 

This,  in  brief,  is  the  story  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  As- 
sociation, a  story  of  enlarging  work  and  cumulative  success, 
through  profiting  by  past  mistakes  and  facing  each  fresh  situa- 
tion with  tact  and  courage.  Are  the  students  of  Japan  over- 
borne by  temptation  in  the  ill-kept  native  lodging-houses? 
Clean  Christian  hostels  are  erected  by  the  Association.  Are  the 
men  employed  in  the  Canal  Zone  cut  off  from  all  customary 
opportunities  for  spiritual  and  social  culture?  Secretaries  and 
clubhouses  are  provided  by  the  Association.  Is  this  country 
threatened  with  a  grave  problem  in  Christianizing  the  immigrants 
who  come  among  us  speaking  in  alien  tongues  ?  The  Associa- 
tion scatters  its  young  men  over  all  Europe  among  those  races 
to  learn  their  language,  and  return  to  work  among  them  here. 
Is  there  a  call  for  some  place  where  health-seekers  may  go  to 
enjoy  open-air  life  under  Christian  auspices  and  in  a  sanitary 
environment?  An  Association  Health  Farm  is  organized  in 
Colorado  to  care  for  such.  The  program  of  the  Association  is 
as  broad  as  Christian  opportunity,  and  its  message  is  as  vital  as 
human  need.     Its  work  has  but  begun. 


THE  YOUNG  WOMEN'S   CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIA- 
TION 

Laura  Hulda  Wild,  B.D. 
University  of  Nebraska 

The  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  idea  is  hardly 
a  half-century  old,  for  it  was  in  1858  in  New  York  that  the  first 
organization  of  the  kind  was  formed  under  the  name  "  Ladies' 
Christian  Association"  with  the  avowed  object  "to  labor  for 
the  temporal,  moral,  and  religious  welfare  of  young  self-support- 
ing women."  It  was  this  fact,  that  young  women  were  entering 
more  and  more  into  the  ranks  of  the  self-supporting  members 
of  society,  which  was  the  occasion  for  the  birth  of  the  idea  of 
Young  Women's  Christian  Associations.  The  thought  itself 
was  born  in  the  mind  of  that  great  originator  of  Young  Men's 
Christian  Associations,  Sir  George  Williams  of  England,  for  we 
find  that  so  early  as  1845  his  attention  had  been  called  to  the 
needs  of  the  young  women  of  London,  and  he  had  been  led  to 
circulate  a  paper  suggesting  a  "Young  Ladies'  Christian  Asso- 
ciation." In  1856  Lady  Kinnaird,  who  had  taken  hold  of  a 
home  for  nurses,  opened  it  to  "matrons  of  public  institutions, 
schoolmistresses,  public  and  private  nurses,  and  persons  wishing 
to  perfect  themselves  in  any  branch  of  their  profession."  In 
1866  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  of  Boston  was 
started  with  the  same  object  as  that  of  New  York,  and  rooms 
were  taken  in  the  Congregational  Building  which  were  used 
for  an  employment  and  boarding-house  directory,  for  reading 
and  recreation,  and  for  religious  meetings. 

Such  was  the  beginning  of  the  movement  in  our  larger  cities, 
to  provide  protection  and  help  for  the  increasing  numbers  of 
bread-earning  women.  As  a  larger  number  of  occupations  have 
opened  to  them  with  greater  demands  upon  their  skill  and  train- 
ing, the  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations  have  found  an 
ever-enlarging  field.  At  first  the  thought  seemed  to  crystallize 
about  a  boarding  home,  as  affording  a  much  needed  protection 

425 


426  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

to  young  women  away  from  home.  Gradually  one  department 
after  another  has  been  added,  until  in  the  best  equipped  Associ- 
ations there  is  an  educational  department,  with  classes  of  all 
descriptions,  from  literature  to  cookery;  a  physical  department^ 
providing  a  well-equipped  gymnasium  and  physical  director; 
a  religious  work  which  embraces  all  kinds  of  Bible-classes  and 
a  Sunday  service;  and  lunch  rooms,  serving  seven  or  eight 
hundred  business  women  a  day  —  those  who  are  kept  down  town, 
at  noon,  although  living  in  their  own  homes. 

Among  the  more  recent  developments  has  been  the  so-called 
Extension  Work,  which  aims  to  go  to  factories,  holding  short 
noon  meetings,  or  forming  clubs  and  classes,  or  providing  rest- 
rooms,  all  of  which  shall  in  some  way  gain  working  girls  for 
higher  thinking  and  living  than  factory  life  provides.  This 
extension  work  is  now  being  carried  into  the  high  school,  fur- 
nishing wholesome  noon  lunches,  and  endeavoring  to  keep  girls 
at  that  very  critical  age  from  wrong  associations  and  ideals. 
The  very  latest  attempt  is  to  do  something  for  the  country- 
girl  and  the  young  woman  in  the  small  towns.  Just  because  a 
town  is  small,  often  the  working  classes  find  less  provision  for 
their  needs  or  protection  than  in  larger  places.  The  demand 
for  such  Christian  organizations  in  our  cities  is  very  apparent 
when  one  sees  their  remarkable  growth.  To-day  there  are 
one  hundred  and  sixty  city  Associations  in  our  country,  many  of 
them  with  large,  well-equipped  buildings,  employing  a  whole 
staff  of  specially  trained  leaders. 

There  is  anotherside  to  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Associ- 
ation, as  there  is  to  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  and 
that  is  the  college  branch.  This  started  in  the  Middle  West  in  an 
Illinois  college  in  1872,  and  has  grown  till  there  are  five  hundred 
and  fifteen  Associations.  This  phase  of  the  work  has  largely- 
been  a  complement  to  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association, 
doing  practically  among  college  women  what  that  organization 
does  for  college  men.  It  was  natural  that  it  should  have  begun 
in  a  co-educational  institution  and  have  had  its  most  rapid 
growth  at  first  in  the  Middle  West,  but  this  part  of  the  work  has 
also  spread  all  over  the  land.  It  is  very  closely  allied  to  the 
Student  Volunteer  movement,  and  the  value  of  the  Association 
in  arousing  interest  in  missionary  activities  is  shown  by  the  fact 
that  during  the  twenty-two  years  of  the  life  of  that  movement 


YOUNG  WOMEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATION     427 

over  one  thousand  women  have  gone  to  foreign  fields,  many 
being  supported  by  the  money  raised  in  the  colleges  at  home. 

Of  no  less  value  to  the  missionary  cause  has  been  the  influence 
of  the  city  Association  in  training  workers  and  supporting  them. 
Young  women  have  gone  to  the  large  cities  of  India,  China, 
and  Japan,  and  now  to  Buenos  Aires,  to  meet  the  needs  of 
foreign  young  women,  as  the  city  Association  of  America  has 
met  the  needs  here.  This  work  is  under  a  World's  Committee, 
with  headquarters  in  London,  but  most  of  the  trained  secretaries 
have  been  supplied  by  America,  and  there  is  now  an  American 
Foreign  Department,  looking  closely  after  the  provision  of  secre- 
taries and  their  support.  It  is  a  work  which  missionaries  most 
heartily  welcome,  accomplishing  a  kind  of  service  that  they  have 
not  been  able  to  give,  laboring  not  only  among  the  native  women, 
but  also  among  the  Eurasian  element,  which  has  been  grievously 
neglected. 

In  1894  the  first  American  worker  went  to  Madras.  To-day 
there  are  one  hundred  and  thirty  associations  in  India,  thirty-five 
of  them  student  organizations,  and  the  remainder  in  the  cities. 
There  is  a  membership  of  seven  thousand,  one  thousand  or 
more  in  Calcutta  alone.  The  government  of  India  has  shown 
its  approval  by  grants  given  in  the  various  presidencies  amount- 
ing already  to  $135,000.  The  opening  of  the  field  in  China, 
Japan,  and  South  America  is  most  interesting,  for  in  all 
those  countries  the  problem  of  bread-earning  women  is  being 
faced  as  well  as  in  America.  This  year  there  are  more  official 
requests  for  trained  secretaries  than  in  all  the  previous  fourteen 
years  together.  At  the  last  World's  Convention  twenty-one 
countries  were  represented,  and  it  was  necessary  to  use  three 
languages. 

A  word  is  required  concerning  the  advance  step  recently  taken 
in  organization  at  home.  Previous  to  1906  the  Young  Women's 
Christian  Associations  of  America  were  controlled  by  two  na- 
tional bodies,  each  supervising  the  work  differently,  with  dif- 
ferent requirements,  and  often  affording  occasion  for  friction. 
It  was  the  natural  result  of  an  attempt  in  various  local  fields 
to  meet  their  own  needs,  and  of  a  very  rapid  multiplication  and 
enlargement  of  those  attempts.  At  first  the  city  work,  then  the 
college  work,  soon  the  state  work,  and  then  again  another  kind 
of  city  work,  all  sprang  up  in  quick  succession.     It  is  no  wonder 


428  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

that  there  was  some  crossing  of  fields  and  interests.  But  in 
1906,  under  the  leadership  of  Miss  Grace  Dodge,  three  hundred 
and  ninety-eight  delegates  from  the  various  Associations  of  the 
land  assembled  in  New  York  and  formed  "The  Young  Women's 
Christian  Associations  of  the  United  States  of  America,"  ex- 
pressing their  object  thus:  "to  unite  in  one  body  the  Young 
Women's  Christian  Associations  of  the  United  States;  to  estab- 
lish, develop,  and  unify  such  Associations ;  to  advance  the  physi- 
cal, social,  intellectual,  moral,  and  spiritual  interests  of  young 
women;  to  participate  in  the  work  of  the  World's  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association."  The  great  difference  of 
opinion  has  been,  not  so  much  upon  methods  of  work,  as  upon 
what  was  known  as  "the  Evangelical  test  of  membership"; 
that  is,  allowing  only  members  of  Evangelical  churches  to  have 
voting  power.  Many  objected  to  the  interpretation  given  to 
the  word  "Evangelical."  The  union  was  accomplished  upon 
the  basis  of  the  definition  adopted  by  the  Interchurch  Federa- 
tion. 

Since  that  time,  as  was  to  be  expected,  a  more  thorough  super- 
vision, with  more  comprehensive  and  permanent  plans,  has  been 
inaugurated,  and  the  outlook  for  efficient  service  is  to-day  more 
hopeful  and  inspiring  than  ever  before. 


RELIGIOUS   INSTRUCTION   IN   THE   PUBLIC 
SCHOOLS 

George  Ellsworth  Johnson 
Pittsburg  Playground  Associatiok 

The  last  seventy-five  years  have  brought  few  changes  in  re- 
ligious instruction  in  the  public  schools  of  the  United  States. 
The  separation  of  Church  and  State  has  perhaps  been  sufficient 
cause  for  this. 

One  might  easily  paint  for  himself  a  very  disheartening  picture 
of  "Godless  schools,"  and  homes  from  which  family  worship 
has  departed.  While  some  states  require  the  reading  of  the 
Scriptures  during  the  opening  exercises  of  the  public  schools, 
such  reading  is  usually  very  brief,  without  comment,  unsys- 
tematic, and  often  perfunctory  on  the  part  of  the  reader. 
Moreover,  the  decline  of  family  worship  and  the  absence  of 
systematic  Bible-reading  in  the  home  have  taken  away  from 
children  the  opportunity  of  religious  training  once  common 
in  Protestant  homes.  The  complaint  is  frequently  made  by 
teachers  of  literature  in  secondary  schools  and  colleges  that 
many  of  their  pupils  fail  to  appreciate,  because  of  their  igno- 
rance of  the  Bible,  the  most  common  allusions  in  literature,  and 
that  very  few  have  any  adequate  knowledge  of  the  Bible  as  a 
whole.  The  National  Education  Association  in  convention 
assembled  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  July  i,  1908,  made  the  following 
declaration:  "It  is  apparent  that  familiarity  with  the  English 
Bible  as  a  masterpiece  of  literature  is  rapidly  decreasing  among 
the  pupils  in  our  schools.  This  is  a  direct  result  of  a  conception 
which  regards  the  Bible  as  a  theological  book  merely,  and  thereby 
leads  to  its  exclusion  from  the  schools  of  some  states  as  a  subject 
of  reading  and  study.  We  hope  for  such  a  change  of  public 
sentiment  in  this  regard  as  will  permit  and  encourage  the  read- 
ing and  study  of  the  English  Bible  as  a  literary  work  of  the  high- 
est and  purest  type,  side  by  side  with  the  poetry  ^and  prose  which 
it  has  inspired  and  in  large  part  formed." 

429 


430  RECENr   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

Coincident  with  the  decline  of  family  worship  and  of  famil- 
iarity with  the  Bible,  "There  is  concededly  a  grave  moral  de- 
pression in  our  business  and  social  atmosphere.  The  reve- 
lations of  the  financial  and  legislative  world  for  the  past  two 
years  denote  a  too  general  acquiescence  in  questionable  prac- 
tices and  standards"  (N.  E.  A.  Declaration,  Article  5),  "There 
are  in  the  minds  of  the  children  and  youth  to-day  a  tendency 
toward  a  disregard  for  constituted  authority,  a  lack  of  respect 
for  age  and  superior  wisdom,  a  weak  appreciation  of  the  demands 
of  duty,  a  disposition  to  follow  pleasure  and  interest  rather  than 
obligation  and  order"  {Ibid.,  Article  14). 

Such  is  the  disheartening  condition  of  things  as  viewed  by 
many  who  have  been  in  intimate  touch  with  the  education  of 
children  and  youth.  But  the  facts  are  not  all  disheartening. 
For  my  part,  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  the  spirit  of  true  re- 
ligion is  more  widely  in  evidence  in  the  public  schools  than  ever 
before.  On  many  teachers  has  fallen  a  conscious  burden  of  the 
need  of  meeting  conditions  imposed  by  the  separation  of  Church 
and  State ;  and  while  theology  and  Biblical  facts  may  have  lost, 
the  fruits  of  the  Spirit,  I  am  constrained  to  believe,  have  gained. 
It  would  be  difficult  in  this  short  paper  to  set  forth  clearly  the 
grounds  for  this  belief,  but  a  brief  statement  of  a  few  of  them 
may  be  made. 

In  the  first  place,  religious  instruction  is  not  necessarily  based 
upon  or  connected  with  debatable  theological  tenets.  "Pure 
religion  and  undefiled  before  God  and  the  Father  is  this.  To  visit 
the  fatherless  and  widows  in  their  affliction,  and  to  keep  himself 
unspotted  from  the  world."  "But  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit  is 
love,  joy,  peace,  long-sufifering,  kindness,  goodness,  faithfulness, 
meekness,  temperance."  Instruction  that  tends  to  fill  the 
hearts  of  children  with  love,  joy,  kindness,  and  goodness,  must 
be  essentially  religious  and  cannot  be  called  only  moral.  "By 
their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them;"  and  if  the  fruits  be  those  of 
the  Spirit,  may  we  not  rest  assured  that  the  instruction  is  essen- 
tially religious? 

Again,  a  great  host  of  public-school  teachers  in  the  aggregate, 
both  Protestant  and  Roman  Catholic,  engage  in  some  kind  of 
religious  instruction  in  their  churches,  often  meeting  some  of 
their  own  pupils  there.  This  tends  to  stimulate  the  teacher  to 
carry  over  into  her  daily  contact  with  her  children  the  true  spirit 


RELIGIOUS    INSTRUCTION  431 

of  practical  religion,  which  counts  far  more  with  children,  con- 
sciously or  unconsciously,  than  does  the  mere  teaching  of  Biblical 
facts  or  religious  principles.  The  daily  routine  of  school  work, 
the  incidents  connected  with  discipline  and  instruction,  the 
lessons  in  literature  and  history,  are  replete  with  o{)portunities 
for  the  awakening  and  expression  of  religious  feelings  and  ideals. 

Again,  the  intelligent  and  intensive  study  of  children  from  the 
standpoint  of  biology,  physiology,  psychology,  anthropology, 
sociology,  and  religion,  of  the  last  fifteen  or  twenty  years,  has 
opened  up  to  the  teacher  new  possibilities  for  instruction  gen- 
uinely religious  and  Christian  which  not  many  years  ago  were 
largely  neglected.  The  introduction  of  the  kindergarten, 
which  steadily  rationalizes  and  improves,  and  of  more  nat- 
ural methods  of  dealing  with  children,  particularly  in  the 
primary  grades,  have  opened  the  hearts  of  children  as  never 
before  to  the  underlying  truths  of  religion.  Particularly  has 
the  teacher  gained  in  knowledge  of  the  nature  and  needs  of  boys 
and  girls  in  the  adolescent  years,  and  consequently  in  power  of 
appeal  to  high  ideals  of  right  conduct.  Such  ideals,  awakened 
both  consciously  and  unconsciously  by  a  teacher  of  high  moral 
and  religious  character,  in  his  contact  with  his  pupils  in  their 
varied  interests  and  activities  of  home,  school,  societies,  and 
games,  tend  to  be  referred  by  them  to  religious  feelings  of  some 
sort.  In  the  young,  moral  ideas,  the  sense  of  right  and  wrong, 
can  hardly  exist  without  emotion.  It  is  Matthew  Arnold  who 
says  that  "religion  is  ethics  heightened  by  feeling;  the  passage 
from  morality  to  religion  is  made  when  to  morality  is  applied 
emotion." 

Now,  some  more  or  less  successful  attempts  have  been  made 
to  develop  methods  of  moral  training  which  are  unsectarian, 
but  nevertheless  retain  that  union  of  morality  and  feeling  which 
is  essentially  religion.  Among  these  attempts  may  be  mentioned 
that  of  the  Ethical  Culture  Society  of  New  York,  led  by  Felix 
Adler,  or  that  known  as  the  Brownlee  System,  or  that  recently 
explained  by  F.  H.  Ellis,  in  Character-Forming  in  School.  These 
methods  are  similar  in  so  far  as  they  select  some  topic  as  love, 
obedience,  unselfishness,  loyalty,  truthfulness,  kindness;  and 
through  story,  or  Bible  narrative,  or  talk,  endeavor  to  win  the 
pupil's  choice  of  action,  perhaps  for  a  definite  period  of  time, 
as  a  week  or  month,  in  accord  with  the  principle  chosen.     Some 


432  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

of  these  methods  are  admirable  in  the  close  and  vital  connection 
they  make  between  sentiment,  resolve,  and  practice. 

But,  after  all  is  said,  the  progress  in  religious  instruction  in  the 
public  schools  during  the  last  seventy-five  years  is  far  from 
reassuring.  Neither  perfunctory  reading  of  the  Scriptures, 
study  of  the  Bible  as  an  English  classic,  nor  merely  moral  in- 
struction can  meet  the  need  felt  by  every  thoughtful  student 
of  public  education  to-day.  We  need  a  consensus  of  all  churches 
upon  a  programme  of  moral  and  religious  instruction  that  will, 
so  far  as  possible,  retain  the  fundamental  doctrines  essential 
to  righteousness,  purity,  and  brotherly  love,  in  which  all  men 
believe.  Teachers  were  never  before  so  prepared  and  eager 
to  make  efficient  use  of  such  a  programme.  The  hearts  of  chil- 
dren and  youth  could  never  before  have  been  so  skillfully 
reached  as  now.  In  this  lies  most,  if  not  all,  the  progress  in 
religious  instruction  in  the  public  schools  for  the  last  seventy- 
five  years.  Great  hope  for  the  future  is  to  be  found  in  the 
organized  and  earnest  efforts  of  the  Religious  Education  Asso- 
ciation, which  during  the  last  six  years  has  been  studying  the 
religious  needs  of  our  educational  system. 


RELIGIOUS   EDUCATION  IN    THE   COLLEGES 

President  Alfred  Tyler  Perry,  D.D. 

Makietta  College 

The  early  Puritans  in  America  showed  their  love  of  learning 
in  the  founding  of  Harvard  College  in  1636  in  order  to  provide 
an  educated  ministry.  The  children  of  the  Puritans  inherited 
their  spirit,  and,  in  generous  rivalry  with  others,  have  become 
noted  as  college-builders.  In  all  the  colleges  thus  founded  in 
the  new  states,  as  the  tide  of  population  swept  westward,  the 
religious  element  has  always  been  prominent,  and  the  relation  to 
the  churches  has  been  close.  It  is  not  easy,  however,  to  describe 
the  progress  of  religious  education  in  these  institutions,  for  their 
development  has  been  quite  irregular.  Some  colleges  have 
blossomed  into  universities,  have  broken  loose  from  the  churches, 
and  boast  of  their  liberal  spirit.  Others  have  retained  the  earlier 
type  and  are  still  ruled  by  church  influence.  Only  in  most 
general  terms,  and  with  recognition  of  many  exceptions,  can  we 
speak  of  the  progress  in  religious  education  in  the  higher  insti- 
tutions of  learning  in  the  United  States. 

In  the  first  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  colleges 
retained  most  of  the  features  common  to  them  from  the  earliest 
time.  There  was  a  narrow  and  rigid  curriculum,  pursued  by 
all  alike,  designed  to  prepare  men  for  a  few  professions,  chiefly 
the  ministry.  This  emphasis  was  natui^al,  since  the  president 
and  most  of  the  faculty  were  themselves  ministers.  There  was 
close  espionage  upon  the  whole  life  of  the  students,  made  some- 
what appropriate  by  their  youth.  Religious  exercises  were  fre- 
quent and  required,  beginning  with  chapel  before  daylight,  and 
including  at  least  weekly  Bible-lessons,  together  with  instruction 
in  Christian  doctrine.  The  faculty  considered  itself  charged 
with  the  moral  welfare  of  the  student,  and  constant  effort  was 
made  to  bring  him  to  a  Christian  confession,  to  confirm  him  in 
Christian  life,  to  establish  him  in  Christian  doctrine,  and,  if 
possible,  to  turn  him  into  the  Christian  ministry. 
2r  433 


434  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

These  colleges,  east  and  west,  have  grown  marvelously  dur- 
ing these  seventy-five  years  in  wealth,  in  equipment,  in  size. 
They  have  also  changed  in  character.  The  modern  college  with 
its  luxurious  appointments,  its  specialized  instruction,  its  wide 
range  of  elective  studies,  its  great  variety  of  student  activities, 
its  absorbing  athletics,  its  broad  inclusiveness  in  student  char- 
acter and  aim,  is  very  unlike  its  early  type.  It  is  not  surprising 
to  find  marked  change  also  in  the  religious  education  of  the 
student.  This  change  has  taken  place  slowly,  and  by  no  means 
with  even  pace  in  all  sections,  or  even  in  all  colleges  of  any  section. 
Nevertheless,  as  we  look  at  the  colleges  in  general,  we  can  discern 
without  difficulty  the  main  features  of  the  movement. 

I.  The  most  striking  as  well  as  the  most  fundamental  feature 
of  this  change  is  the  transfer  of  control  of  the  religious  education 
from  the  faculty  to  the  students.  Whereas  once  professors 
arranged  Bible  courses,  organized  revivals,  and  led  in  Christian 
effort,  now  the  College  Christian  Association  under  student 
control  is  the  center  from  which  the  religious  life  of  the  student 
is  directed  and  inspired.  No  department  of  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  has  shown  more  alertness  than  the  college 
department.  Its  Bible-study  courses  with  specially  prepared 
text-books,  its  mission-study  courses,  its  training  conferences 
and  summer  assemblies,  and  above  all  its  executive  force  and 
traveling  secretaries,  have  rendered  it  by  far  the  most  powerful 
agency  ever  utilized  for  the  religious  development  of  the  college 
student.  It  is  students  working  with  and  for  students;  it  de- 
velops the  worker,  it  disarms  the  one  worked  for.  The  beautiful 
houses  erected  in  many  places,  and  the  paid  secretaries,  mark 
the  full  development  of  the  system ;  but  even  in  the  smallest  and 
poorest  colleges,  the  suggestions  from  headquarters  are  gladly 
accepted,  and  adopted  as  far  as  possible. 

This  change  is  most  apparent  if  we  note  the  conditions  in  one 
of  our  New  England  colleges.  In  1834  the  president  was 
entitled  also  "Professor  of  Divinity."  One  of  its  six  depart- 
ments was  that  of  "Practical  Theology  and  Personal  Religion." 
Lectures  on  Theology  were  given  each  term.  Freshmen  had  a 
Bible-exercise  every  week  in  the  Historical  Books  of  the  Old 
Testament;  Sophomores,  in  the  Prophetical  Books  and  Greek 
Testament;  and  Juniors,  in  the  New  Testament  Doctrinal 
Books,  while  Seniors  studied  Paley's  Evidences  of  Christianity 


RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  IN  THE  COLLEGES     435 

and  Butler's  Analogy.  Paley's  Natural  Theology  was  also  in 
the  curriculum.  In  a  sister  college,  besides  courses  similar  to 
these,  a  course  in  Vincent's  Catechism  retained  its  place  well 
through  the  century. 

Go  to-day  into  those  colleges.  The  president  is  an  executive 
officer,  with  little  teaching.  The  curriculum  indeed  contains 
courses  on  Theism,  the  Literary  Study  of  the  Bible,  etc.,  but 
all  Bible-study  for  doctrinal  or  devotional  purposes  is  left  to  the 
students  themselves.  On  the  other  hand,  a  beautiful  building 
houses  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  and  forms  a 
center  for  the  religious  life  of  the  college,  which  is  directed  by 
a  paid  graduate  secretary.  A  large  number  of  students  are 
enrolled  in  Bible-study  classes  under  student  leaders  trained  at 
summer  conferences.  Missionary  work  is  being  studied  by  a 
goodly  number.  In  1834  the  college,  through  its  faculty,  was 
giving  a  large  amount  of  formal  religious  instruction  as  well  as 
leading  in  revivals  and  Christian  work.  To-day  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  is  doing  this  work  which  the  college 
has  relinquished,  and  professors  have  little  to  do  with  student 
religious  life. 

This  transition  is,  of  course,  only  one  phase  of  the  changed 
attitude  of  the  college  authorities  to  the  students.  The  old 
paternal  conception  has  largely  passed  away.  The  students  are 
no  longer  considered  boys,  to  be  carefully  watched  and  controlled 
in  every  act  of  their  lives ;  they  are  men,  to  be  developed  in  free- 
dom, to  learn  self-mastery.  So  student  government  has  become 
a  recognized  feature  in  most  colleges,  although  in  varying  degrees. 
It  is  but  natural,  therefore,  that  in  this  sphere  of  religion,  the 
most  intimate  and  sacred  area  of  the  human  personality,  a  large 
degree  of  self-control  should  be  considered  most  appropriate. 
There  have  been,  to  be  sure,  many  causes  contributing  to  this 
marked  transition.  Among  these  may  be  mentioned  the 
so-called  "Germanizing"  of  our  colleges  —  the  acceptance  of 
the  German  univ^ersity  ideal  which  makes  scholarship  the  chief 
concern,  and  which  pays  no  attention  to  student  character. 
This  has  undoubtedly  had  a  potent  influence.  In  connection 
with  this  there  has  been  the  specialization  of  the  faculty,  the  ne- 
cessity of  securing  men  trained  in  the  narrow  subject,  and  the 
resulting  necessity  of  taking  the  trained  man  irrespective  of  his 
character.    While  it  would  not  be  fair  to  say  that  no  attention  is 


436  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

now  given  to  the  character  of  the  man  chosen  to  fill  a  professor's 
chair,  yet  it  is  true  that  character  of  a  positive  Christian  sort  is 
no  longer  deemed  indispensable  for  a  professorship  in  most  of 
our  larger  institutions.  If  a  well-trained  scholar  can  be  secured 
who  is  morally  correct,  that  is  sufficient. 

Furthermore,  the  change  in  the  student  body  makes  it  more 
impossible  for  the  college  to  treat  its  students  as  it  used  to  do. 
Not  only  has  there  been  growth  in  numbers,  often  to  quite 
unwieldy  size ;  there  have  also  come  large  numbers  of  those  who 
cannot  be  expected  to  enter  the  ministry  or  any  profession,  who 
seek  the  training  and  culture  the  college  gives,  simply  in  order 
to  enrich  their  lives.  The  religious  complexion  of  the  student 
body  also  has  grown  diverse.  Not  only  are  Protestant  denomi- 
nations in  great  variety  represented,  but  also  increasingly 
Romanists  and  Jews.  It  is  manifestly  impossible  for  the  college 
to  put  this  heterogeneous  mass  through  identical  forms  of  re- 
ligious instruction.  Bible-classes  and  courses  on  Apologetics 
have  inevitably  become  elective,  and  then  have  often  been 
dropped  entirely.  Even  the  daily  chapel  has  been  made  op- 
tional, and  in  some  cases  made  a  weekly  exercise. 

The  development  of  the  state-controlled  universities  has 
compelled  for  them  the  submergence  of  all  religious  instruction 
as  improper  in  an  institution  supported  by  general  taxation. 
And,  since  thirty  per  cent,  of  all  collegiate  students  are  in  insti- 
tutions of  this  sort,  that  large  section  of  the  students  of  America 
cannot  be  expected  to  receive  from  their  university  any  formal 
instruction  in  religion.  The  small  denominational  college, 
especially  in  the  West,  has,  it  is  true,  clung  persistently  to  the 
ideal  of  Christian  character  as  the  primal  end  in  education, 
and,  for  the  most  part,  has  been  more  solicitous  regarding  the 
Christian  faith  of  its  professors.  It  has  maintained  the  pre- 
scribed chapel,  and  attempted  something  in  the  way  of  Biblical 
instruction,  often  requiring  a  small  amount  of  every  student. 
But,  with  this  significant  and  important  exception,  the  drift 
has  been  as  stated,  while  the  transfer  of  the  control  of  the  re- 
ligious training  of  the  student  from  faculty  to  student  has  been 
recognized  even  in  these  smaller  and  less  Germanized  institu- 
tions. In  the  larger  universities  the  abdication  of  the  faculty 
is  complete. 

2.    Besides  this  change  in  the  center  of  gravity  of  the  religious 


RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  IN  THE  COLLEGES     437 

education  of  students,  there  has  been  a  corresponding  change 
in  method.  The  study  of  the  Bible  by  use  of  carefully  pre- 
pared text-books  has  become  a  daily  and  vital  study.  The 
religious  life  is  regarded  as  something  to  grow  normally  rather 
than  to  be  forced,  and  a  wider  range  of  expression  is  allowed 
it.  The  revival  of  the  old  type  is  not  now  common  in  colleges, 
as  it  is  less  frequent  among  the  churches.  But  profound 
stirrings  of  the  student-body  are  not  unknown,  when  large 
numbers  make  for  the  first  time  the  Christian  decision.  The 
evangelistic  note  is  not  wanting  in  student  meetings,  and  the 
appeal  to  devote  one's  life  to  the  service  of  the  Christ  is  often 
heard  and  heeded.  While  the  churches,  with  their  better  agen- 
cies for  nurture,  are  sending  a  larger  proportion  of  professing 
Christians  to  college  than  formerly,  yet,  in  spite  of  this,  the 
number  of  conversions  to-day  in  college  bears  most  favorable 
comparison  with  that  of  seventy-five  years  ago. 

The  remarkable  development  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Move- 
ment is  surely  not  to  be  overlooked.  The  presence  in  almost 
every  college  of  a  group  of  devoted  young  people  openly  pledged 
to  foreign  missionary  work  has  a  profound  influence  upon  the 
student-body  as  a  whole,  while  the  systematic  study  of  foreign 
missions  must  quicken  the  life  and  strengthen  the  faith  and  zeal 
of  many  Christians.  The  change  of  emphasis  in  the  personal 
religious  life  from  introspection  to  outlook  is  also  significant. 
Service  most  certainly  fits  the  mood  of  the  average  young  person 
better  than  meditation.  And  is  not  activity  as  valuable  for 
soul-growth  as  contemplation? 

A  development  of  recent  years  is  worthy  of  mention.  Just 
when  the  unconcern  of  the  institution  for  the  student's  life 
reached  its  climax,  there  sprang  up  a  new  emphasis  upon  the 
Bible  as  a  literary  and  ethical  treasure-house.  It  is  more  fully 
recognized  than  formerly  that  religion  as  a  great  social  factor 
is  a  legitimate  subject  for  study,  and  that  the  institution  that 
aims  to  teach  everything  must  find  a  place  for  this.  So  the  Bible, 
after  being  banished  from  the  curriculum,  has  come  back  again. 
Professors  of  Biblical  Literature  are  being  very  generally  ap- 
pointed, and  elaborate  courses  in  Hebrew  and  New  Testament 
Greek,  in  Hebrew  and  Christian  History,  in  the  literary  and  criti- 
cal study  of  the  Bible,  are  offered  very  generally  by  the  larger 
universities,  even  by  those  under  state  control.     It  is  to  be  noted, 


438  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

however,  that  the  point  of  view  is  radically  different  from  that 
of  the  early  time.  Religion  is  examined  with  a  critical  analysis. 
Christianity  is  approached  from  the  direction  of  comparative 
religion.  Theism  is  a  philosophical  inquiry.  The  Bible  is 
dis-sected  with  minute  care,  and  the  linguistic  and  artistic 
beauties  are  pointed  out.  But  the  study  of  the  Bible  that  its 
truths  may  become  food  for  the  soul  is  not  now  undertaken  under 
faculty  guidance;  that  is  left  to  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association.  It  may  well  be  doubted  whether  this  excessive 
emphasis  upon  critical  methods  and  results  in  the  study  of  the 
Bible  is  either  appropriate  for  under-graduate  students,  or  on 
the  whole  profitable.  It  certainly  would  be  deplorable  were 
it  not  supplemented  by  devotional  study  in  the  Christian 
Association. 

3.  What  shall  we  say  as  to  the  effects  of  these  changes? 
Has  this  transfer  of  leadership  from  faculty  to  student,  and  this 
accompanying  change  in  method,  been  a  gain  or  a  loss?  No  one 
can  help  regretting  the  loss  of  interest  on  the  part  of  professors 
in  the  character  of  their  students,  and  the  remoteness  from  con- 
tact with  them  now  so  common  in  our  larger  institutions. 
Equally  deplorable  is  any  loss  of  moral  leadership  on  their  part. 
On  any  theory  of  education,  the  value  of  Christian  character  in 
a  professor  is  great.  No  enthusiasms  are  more  fundamental 
or  more  worthy  to  be  inspired  by  word  or  example  than  those  of 
religion.  The  changed  methods  have  also  resulted  perhaps  in 
more  shallow  convictions  and  less  intelligent  faith.  A  grounding 
in  the  Catechism  gave  to  the  student  at  least  a  reason  for  the 
faith  that  was  in  him.  His  creed  was  fuller  and  better  buttressed 
than  that  of  the  modern  student.  But  if  there  have  been  some 
losses,  there  are  ampler  gains.  There  has  been  a  gain  in 
manliness  and  self-control  on  the  part  of  the  students.  There 
has  been  gain  in  morality.  The  consensus  of  opinion,  in  spite 
of  some  lurid  statements  to  the  contrary,  is  that  there  has  been 
an  elevation  of  moral  tone  in  the  student-body.  There  is  surely 
more  genuine  interest  in  Bible-study  than  ever.  There  is  a 
profounder  recognition  of  the  value  of  religion  for  all  the  ac- 
tivities of  life.  Christian  work  is  undertaken  more  generally 
under  student  leadership,  and  the  gain  in  power  by  leaders  and 
workers  is  beyond  computation.  The  present  organization  of 
Christian  activities  in  college   under  the  Christian  Association 


RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  IN  THE  COLLEGES     439 

can  excite  only  the  admiration  of  every  thoughtful  observer.  If 
there  is  occasionally  crudeness,  there  is  more  often  genuineness. 
If  there  is  sometimes  unwisdom,  there  is  usually  thorough  ear- 
nestness. If  there  is  less  definiteness  of  creedal  belief,  there  is 
more  breadth  of  love  and  more  real  unity  of  the  spirit.  Perhaps 
the  pendulum  has  swung  too  far  from  professor  to  student. 
It  may  easily  swing  back  a  little;  and,  while  conserving  all  that 
is  good  in  student  leadership  and  in  the  new  methods,  find  room 
also  for  the  guidance  and  inspiration  of  the  older  and  more  ex- 
perienced Christian. 

The  colleges  of  the  early  time  sent  forth  men  who  have 
achieved  great  things  for  the  Kingdom  of  God.  There  are 
going  forth  to-day  from  these  same  colleges  a  larger  host  trained 
in  somewhat  different  ways;  but  who  shall  say  that  there  is 
not  here  as  deep  a  consecration  to  lofty  ideals,  as  loving  a  loyalty 
to  the  Christ,  as  in  the  former  time?  These  seventy-five  years 
have  witnessed  changes  that  we  may  interpret  as  progress. 
The  Kingdom  draws  nearer  to  its  consummation. 


RELIGIOUS  LITERATURE 

Ernest  Gushing  Richardson,  Ph.D. 
Princeton  University  Library 

The  number  ^  of  books  published  in  Europe  and  America  in 
1833  or  1834  was  perhaps  23,008  or  22,810,  exclusive  of  peri- 
odicals. Of  these  some  3,228  were  religious.  In  1907  the 
whole  number  was  perhaps  81,616,  of  which  some  7,495  were 
religious.  In  1833  thus  14%  of  books  published  were  theo- 
logical, in  1907  less  than  10%   (9.13%). 

The  increase  in  the  total  of  books  published  was  thus  three 
and  one-half  times,  while  the  increase  in  theological  books  was 
less  than  two  and  one-half  times.  It  needs  to  be  remembered, 
however,  that  many  of  the  most  prolific  of  the  modern  sciences 
had  not  been  invented  in  1834,  and  that  the  absolute  increase 
made  in  these  seventy-five  years  is  greater  than  the  increase 
of  all  the  eighteen  centuries  preceding. 

When  periodicals  are  taken  into  account,  the  growth  of 
theological  literature  in  this  period  is  still  more  striking.  This 
era  is  the  age  of  the  periodical;  and  the  chief  characteristic  of 
the  progress  of  religious  literature  during  this  time,  as  it  is  the 
chief  characteristic  of  the  progress  in  all  literature  of  the  period, 
is  the  growth  of  this  method  of  publication.     In  1833  there 

*  The  difficulty  of  getting  uniform  standards  in  book-statistics  is  notorious, 
as  no  two  countries  have  quite  the  same  laws  of  inclusion,  and  sometimes  two 
or  three  standards  are  used  by  different  compilers  in  the  same  country.  While 
this  affects  the  totals,  so  that  they  should  be  much  greater  if  all  pamphlets  were 
included  and  much  less  if  the  most  rigorous  standards  were  applied  for  all 
countries,  it  does  not  so  much  affect  the  comparative  figures  between  dates, 
for  it  is  relatively  possible  to  get  the  figures  within  a  given  country  on  the  same 
standard  for  two  dates.  It  is  hard  also  to  judge  of  the  proportion  of  theology 
in  the  total,  since  in  one  system  or  another  theological  books  are  to  be  found 
under  history,  education,  theosophy,  mythology,  philosophy,  art,  law,  and  other 
heads.  In  judging  the  total  theological  literature  as  between  two  countries 
this  also  must  be  taken  into  account,  but  in  judging  the  increase  or  decrease, 
especially  by  percentage,  the  figures  are  sound  in  the  same  relative  sense  that 
soundness  can  be  predicated  of  statistics  in  general.  These  figures  are  drawn 
or  verified  for  the  most  part  from  the  standard  annual  catalogues  of  books  and 
periodicals  of  the  various  countries,  but  the  best  literary  statement  has  in  general 
been  selected  as  basis  and  adapted,  this  giving  the  most  consistent  standards. 

440 


RELIGIOUS   LITERATURE  441 

were,  it  was  estimated,  in  the  world,  3,068  newspapers  and 
magazines;  in  1907  there  were  56,050 —  18  times  more. 
Not  less  than  7%  of  those  and  perhaps  8  or  9%  are  religious 
—  a  minimum  of  3,923.  These  figures  indicate  that  there  are 
more  religious  periodicals  to-day  than  there  were  periodicals 
of  every  sort  seventy-five  years  ago. 

We  turn  now  to  some  details  showing  the  special  increase 
in  America.  In  1833,  or  thereabouts,  there  were  published  an- 
nually in  America  604  volumes,  of  which  105  were  theological; 
in  England  1,416,  of  which  probably  200  were  theological;  in 
France  6,068,  including  586  theological;  in  Germany  6,757, 
including  925  theological;  in  Italy  3,623,  including  781 ;  Sweden 
715,  including  121;  Russia  758,  including  69.  Add  to  this 
the  same  relative  fraction  of  the  books  now  published  in  Spain 
(713),  in  Holland  (1,130),  in  Denmark  (803),  in  Belgium  (307), 
in  Norway  (216);  and  it  gives  the  before-mentioned  grand  total 
for  1833  of  22,810  and  the  theological  total  of  3,228. 

In  1907  the  publications,  exclusive  of  periodicals,  were: 
America  9,620  (876  theological),  England 9,914  (950  theological), 
France  10,785  (800  theological),  Germany  30,073  (3,180  theo- 
logical), Italy  7,088  (357  theological),  Spain  2,141  (100  theo- 
logical), Holland  3,391  (444  theological),  Denmark  2,409  (182 
theological).  Adding  to  these  the  figures  for  nearest  dates  at 
hand,  Russia  3,165,  Belgium  922,  Sweden  1,460,  and  Norway 
648,  gives  a  total  of  81,616;  and  adding  9.13%  of  these  additions 
to  theological  works,  gives  the  theological  total  of  7,495. 

It  appears  thus  that,  while  the  general  increase  for  all  nations 
is  3^  times  and  the  theological  increase  2^  times,  the  increase 
for  America  is  more  than  15  times  in  all  kinds,  and  8  times  in 
theological  books. 

The  periodical  figures  are  even  more  striking.  These  are 
given  for  1833  as  follows:  Europe  2,142,  America  878  (978?), 
Asia  27,  Africa  12,  Oceanica  9,  a  total  of  3,068.  The  com- 
prehensive recent  estimate  of  the  annual  output  as  given  in 
Nelson's  Encyclopaedia  is:  "America  24,000,  Great  Britain 
9,800,  Germany  8,000,  France  4,600,  Japan  2,700,  Italy  1,600, 
Austria  1,200,  Asia  900,  Spain  900,  Russia  850,  Australia  600, 
Greece  600,  Switzerland  450,  Belgium  250,  Holland  300  — 
a  total  of  56,050."  This  is  probably  a  conservative  statement 
for  to-day.     As  a  matter  of  fact  these  figures  concerning  peri- 


442  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

odicals  are  in  general  minimum  figures  and  represent  peri- 
odicals actually  known  to  the  compilers,  omitting  many.  There 
were  in  America  in  1833  in  fact,  instead  of  878  or  even  978, 
some  1,265  or  more.  A  writer  of  the  time  claimed  that 
"America,  with  13,000,000  inhabitants,  has  more  newspapers 
than  the  whole  of  Europe,  with  190,000,000."  At  all  events  it 
had  more  than  any  single  nation;  and  while  periodicals  have 
since  increased  eighteen  fold,  American  periodicals  have  in- 
creased 20  to  25  times,  although  the  ratio  of  increase  of  popu- 
lation has  not  kept  equal  pace. 

The  number  of  religious  periodicals  in  America,  according  to 
the  census  of  1905,  was  only  1,287,  ^^^  of  a  total  of  21,394  in  all 
classes.  The  actual  percentage  in  recent  years  has  been:  in 
1880,  4.9%;  in  1890,  6.9%;  in  1900,  5.2%;  in  1905,  6%. 
This  is  below  the  percentage  for  books  in  America,  and  below  the 
average  percentage  of  other  countries  —  a  fact  which  is  due 
chiefly  to  the  immense  number  of  dailies  and  local  weeklies  in 
the  United  States.  Germany,  whose  figures  exclude  political 
dailies,  has  697  theological  periodicals  out  of  a  total  of  5,747, 
which  is  more  than  12%.  This  has  to  be  discounted  by  the 
fact  that  Kiirschner  gives  a  total  of  10,606  in  1902  for  Germany, 
which,  although  he  includes  political  dailies,  indicates  a  some- 
what lower  percentage.  All  together  it  may  be  estimated  that 
the  minimum  average  percentage  among  the  figures  for  all 
countries  here  given  is  7%,  or  a  minimum  total  of  theological 
periodicals  to-day  of  3,923,  as  before  mentioned.  America's 
1,287  periodicals  form,  therefore,  perhaps  one-fourth  of  the 
world's  religious  periodicals. 

While  the  percentage  of  theological  to  total  periodicals  in 
America  is  rather  below  that  of  books,  the  ratio  of  circulation 
as  between  theological  and  all  periodicals  is  much  greater  than 
in  the  case  of  books.  The  census  of  1905  shows  that  the  1,287 
religious  periodicals  had  a  circulation  of  22,383,631,  out  of  a 
total  circulation  for  all  21,394  periodicals  of  139,939,229.  This, 
is  nearly  16%.  If  the  total  of  copies  issued  annually  were 
in  the  same  ratio,  this  would  suggest  the  enormous  amount  of 
1,400,000,000  numbers  of  religious  periodicals  annually;  but 
since  there  are  few  religious  dailies,  the  average  annual  issue 
of  each  can  hardly  be  above  50  by  any  possibility.  If,  however, 
it  is  40,  which  is  not  impossible,  it  will  give  a  total  annual  issue 


RELIGIOUS   LITERATURE 


443 


of  nearly  900,000,000.  It  was  estimated  in  1872,  that  the  330 
or  more  religious  periodicals  then  issued  published  100,000,000 
copies  annually,  and  it  is  safe  to  say  that  there  are  not  less  than 
500,000,000  now  issued  annually. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  both  the  total  of  copies  and  the  average 
number  of  copies  per  issue  of  all  periodicals  has  increased 
greatly  in  recent  years.  The  average  circulation  of  dailies,  for 
example,  in  1850,  was  about  3,000  and  in  1905  10,000.  In  1850 
2,500  periodicals  had  a  circulation  of  5,000,000,  in  1870  6,000 
had  a  circulation  of  20,000,000,  in  1890  15,000  periodicals  had 
a  circulation  of  68,147,619,  in  1905  21,400  had  a  circulation  of 
140,000,000. 

The  growth  of  the  aggregate  of  copies  issued  during  a  year 
has  been  in  round  numbers  from  perhaps  1,200  American  peri- 
odicals in  1833,  with  an  aggregate  annual  output  of  perhaps 
110,000,000  copies,  to  1,400  periodicals  in  1840,  with  200,000,000 
copies;  1850,  2,500,  with  a  total  of  400,000,000;  i860,  4,000, 
with  1,000,000,000  copies;  1870,  6,000,  with  1,500,000,000; 
1880,  11,000,  with  2,000,000,000  copies;  1890,  15,000,  with 
5,000,000,000;  1900,  18,000,  with  8,000,000,000;  and  1905, 
21,000,  with  10,000,000,000. 

Another  indication,  cross-checking  to  some  extent  the  result 
of  the  previous  study,  and  suggesting  that  in  books  as  well  as 
periodicals  not  only  the  number  of  works  has  increased  but  the 
number  of  copies  of  each  work,  is  the  figure  for  Bible  circulation. 
The  Bibles  published  by  the  American  Bible  Society  in  1833 
were  110,332,  and  in  1907,  1,910,853.  Those  published  by  the 
British  and  Foreign  Society  about  1833  averaged  not  far  from 
500,000  annually,  while  in  1907  they  issued  5,416,569.  The 
increase  of  the  British  Society  was  about  eleven  fold,  that  of  the 
American  Society  seventeen  fold. 

The  discussion  of  the  progress  of  literature  as  distinguished 
from  learning  or  encyclopaedia  perhaps  ends  here,  but  a  brief 
analysis  and  comparison  of  the  classes  of  works  produced  before 
1833  and  at  the  present  day,  based  on  the  German  production, 
has  its  suggestiveness,  and  is  not  wholly  inappropriate.  The 
index  to  Kayser,  which  covers  the  years  1750  to  1832,  shows 
roughly  the  following  percentages:  General  7.4%,  Exegetical 
17.3%,  Historical  11.1%,  Systematic  28.4%,  Practical  34.6%, 
Jewish   1.2%.     During  the  year   1907   the  proportions  were: 


444  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

General  (80)  2.9%,  Exegetical  (306)  11.2%,  Historical  (456) 
16.8%,  Systematic  (361)  13.3%,  Practical  (1422)  52.4%,  Jew- 
ish (88)  3.2%.  The  item  of  devotional  works  under  Practical 
had  in  1833,  8.6%;  in  1907,  14.6.  The  figures  here  used  for 
1907  are  2,713,  and  do  not  include  school  books. 

A  decrease  in  the  matter  of  Systematic  Theology  is  not  un- 
expected, but  so  extensive  a  decrease  as  from  28.4%  to  13.3% 
seems  to  mark  a  decided  tendency.  The  decrease  from  17.3% 
to  11.2%  in  Exegetical  Theology,  in  spite  of  the  growth  of 
Biblical  Archaeology  and  the  vast  stir  about  Historical  and  Liter- 
ary Criticism,  is  surprising  until  one  turns  to  the  increases  and 
the  reasons  for  them,  and  notices  too  that  the  actual  number  of 
works  produced  (306)  is  in  fact  an  increase  of  50%  in  total  pro- 
duction —  17-3%  of  the  books  published  in  1833  being  only  199, 
while  11.2%  of  those  produced  in  1907  amounts  to  306. 

The  increase  of  Practical  Theology  from  34.6%  to  52.4%  is- 
doubtless  due  in  large  measure  to  the  development  of  the  social 
and  economic  aspects  of  Church  work,  but  the  significant  in- 
crease of  that  section  of  Practical  Theology  which  is  given  to 
books  of  devotion,  from  8.6%  to  14.6%,  points  to  a  real  growth, 
on  the  spiritual  side  which  possibly  comes  from  that  general 
revival  of  spiritual  interest,  which  dates  from  the  beginning  of 
this  period,  with  which  Hartford  Seminary  was  so  intimately 
associated  in  its  founding  and  earlier  years,  through  Dr.  Nettle- 
ton's  preaching  and  his  hymn-book. 

The  increase  in  Jewish  Literature  from  1.2%  to  3.2%  is  not 
surprising  when  it  is  noted  that  in  the  matter  of  periodicals, 
there  was,  according  to  the  Jewish  Encyclopedia,  shortly  before 
the  beginning  of  this  period  not  one  regularly  published  Jewish 
periodical,  in  1830  only  one,  and  in  1834  perhaps  ten,  while,^ 
when  the  Encyclopedia  was  published  in  1905,  there  were  198, 
of  which  82  were  American. 

While  the  statistics  of  Germany  are  better  adapted  for  precise 
comparison  than  those  of  other  countries,  the  same  tendencies 
are  exhibited  in  the  literature  of  other  countries.  In  America 
the  proportionate  reaction  from  Systematic  Theology  is  doubtless 
equal  or  even  greater.  Since  1834  the  Darwinian  theory  of  evolu- 
tion has  arisen,  the  science  of  Textual  Criticism  has  been  dis- 
covered, the  principles  of  Literary  and  Historical  Criticism  have 
been  developed,  and  the  social,  economic,  and  industrial  ex- 


RELIGIOUS    LITERATURE  445 

pansion  has  had  its  reflex  in  methods  of  Christian  social  work. 
All  these  have  left  their  traces  on  the  literary  production  of  the 
period,  and  may  be  seen  mirrored  in  the  literature  of  the  present 
year. 

Perhaps  no  better  idea  can  be  given  of  the  progress  of  theo- 
logical literature  in  America  during  the  last  seventy-five  years, 
than  to  set  side  by  side  and  compare  the  literary  output  of  the 
Hartford  Seminary  then  and  now  —  the  scanty  polemico-doctrinal 
writings  of  Bennet  Tyler,  with  the  Village  Hymns  in  the  back- 
ground on  the  one  hand;  and  now,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
Syriac  Concordance,  the  Bible  Dictionary,  the  writings  of  Paton 
on  Old  Testament  History  and  Exegesis,  of  Macdonald  in  the 
field  of  Arabic  and  Islam,  the  monumental  Corpus  Schivenck- 
feldianorum  of  Hartranft,  the  volumes  of  Geer  in  Historical 
Theology,  the  volumes  of  Mackenzie,  Jacobus,  Mitchell, 
Beardslee,  Simpson,  Angus,  the  work  of  Gillett  and  others  on 
the  Hartford  Seminary  Record,  and  in  Practical  Theology  the 
History  of  Music,  the  hymn-books,  and  other  literary  produc- 
tions of  Pratt.  If  it  were  permitted  to  include  Graham  Taylor 
and  his  "Commons"  (since  he  began  his  professional  sociolog- 
ical career  in  this  institution),  there  would  be  a  complete 
characterization  of  this  later  age. 

It  hardly  pays  to  try  to  make  a  relative  comparison  of  the  pro- 
duction of  the  various  nations  in  theological  literature,  since  the 
figures  are  on  such  different  standards.  Some  general  facts 
appear,  however,  on  the  surface.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  Germany, 
although  her  figures  are  padded  beyond  those  of  any  other  coun- 
try, still  holds  her  supremacy  both  in  quantity  and  quality,  looked 
at  from  the  standpoint  of  scholarship,  and  that  the  decrease  of 
France  and  Italy  is  due  to  the  corresponding  vicissitudes  of 
religion  in  those  countries.  The  figures  being  substantially 
valid  too  for  increase  and  decrease,  it  appears  that  America  has 
grown  eightfold,  while  England  has  grown  fivefold,  and  Ger- 
many has  just  kept  pace  with  the  general  increase  of  three  and 
a  half  times.  France  has  increased  by  one  fourth  of  its  actual 
output,  but  has  decreased  its  percentage  in  nearly  the  same  pro- 
portion. Italy,  if  the  figures  are  correct,  has  lost  50%  in 
actual  numbers  and  more  in  percentage.  It  is  not  surprising 
to  find  that  Holland  is  still  addicted  to  theology  in  the  pro- 
portion of  13.1%  where  the  rest  of  the  world  has  9.1%. 


446 


RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 


TABLE   A 
Books  1833  and  1907 


1833 

1907 

Total 

Religious 

Total 

Religious 

America 

604 

105 

9,620 

876 

England 

1,416 

200 

9^914 

950 

Belgium 

307 

42 

922 

83 

Denmark 

803 

112 

2,409 

182 

France 

6,068 

586 

10,785 

800 

Germany 

6,757 

925 

30,073 

3,180 

Holland 

1,130 

158 

3,391 

308 

Italy     . 

3,623 

781 

7,088 

444 

Norway 

216 

30 

648 

58 

Russia 

758 

69 

3,165 

288 

Spain  . 

713 

99 

2,141 

194 

Sweden 

715 

121 

1,460 

132 

22,810 

3,228 

81,616 

7,495 

TABLE   B 
Periodicals  1833  and  1907 


1833 

1907 

America  . 

878  (978?) 

America 

24,000 

Europe     . 

2,142 

Great  Britain 

9,800 

Asia 

27 

Germany 

8,000 

Africa 

12 

France 

4,600 

Oceanica  . 

9 

Japan  . 

2,700 

3,068 

Italy     . 
Austria 
Asia     . 
Spain    . 
Russia  . 
Australia 
Greece . 
Switzerland 
Belgium 
Holland 

1,600 
1,200 
900 
900 
850 
600 
600 

450 
250 
300 

56,750 

THE   RELIGIOUS   PRESS   IN   AMERICA 

Rev.   William  Ellsworth  Strong 

Editorial  Secretary,  A.B.C.F.M.,  Boston,  Mass. 

Upon  a  surface-view  of  events  the  history  of  religious  jour- 
nahsm  in  this  country  during  the  last  seventy-five  years  may 
briefly  be  described  as  a  rise  and  fall. 

There  can  be  no  question  about  the  rise,  for  in  1834  the  reli- 
gious newspaper  was  still  in  the  flush  of  its  youth.  Its  origin 
lay  back  in  the  early  years  of  the  nineteenth  century,  among 
those  stirrings  of  evangelistic  zeal  and  missionary  interest 
that  marked  a  new  religious  awakening.  Thereupon  appeared  a 
few  sporadic  sheets  containing  sermons  and  other  direct  appeals 
of  a  fervid  piety.  It  was  not,  however,  till  1816,  only  eighteen 
years  before  the  Theological  Institute  of  Connecticut  was 
founded,  that  Nathaniel  Willis  brought  out  the  Boston  Recorder, 
with  the  idea  of  grafting  the  religious  element  upon  the  ordinary 
news-journal,  and  so  originated  the  American  religious  news- 
paper. 

It  made  a  hit.  Other  papers  started  upon  the  same  lines; 
country  newspapers  began  to  provide  religious  columns.  Soon 
Connecticut  and  New  York  each  had  a  religious  newspaper  of 
its  own.  At  first  these  journals  were  mildly,  if  at  all,  denomi- 
national, but  in  a  few  years  all  sects  and  all  parts  of  the  country 
had  their  own  representatives  in  the  field.  In  less  than  ten 
years  from  the  appearance  of  the  Recorder  one  hundred  such 
newspapers  were  in  existence  and  the  number  was  growing. 
Dr.  Howard  Bridgman  is  authority  for  the  statement  that  in 
1833  the  circulation  of  religious  papers  in  the  city  of  New  York 
exceeded  the  aggregate  circulation  in  that  city  of  all  the  secular 
newspapers.  Then  the  New  York  Sun  started  a  penny  daily, 
and  the  tide  turned. 

At  the  outset  the  aim  of  the  religious  newspaper  was  two- 
fold: to  provide  a  better  treatment  of  public  aft'airs  than  ap- 
peared in  the  coarse,  partisan  press  of  the  day,  and  to  use  the 

447 


448  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

publication  of  general  news  as  a  way  to  introduce  religious 
intelligence.  The  latter  was  the  chief  concern  of  Willis  with 
his  Recorder.  For  this  reason  he  would  suffer  no  doctrinal  or 
sectarian  controversy  in  its  pages,  which  were  meant  to  be  a 
vehicle  of  news.  He  would  recognize,  so  he  announced,  no 
other  parties  "than  those  two  into  which  the  Scriptures  divide 
the  whole  world  [meaning  good  and  bad].     Here  we  take  sides." 

There  was  little  that  would  now  be  regarded  as  attractive  or 
interesting  in  one  of  those  early  papers;  a  four-page  blanket- 
sheet,  without  illustration  or  adornment,  containing  reports  of 
the  newly-founded  missionary  and  Bible  societies,  long  letters  of 
travel,  records  of  revivals,  sermons,  and  appeals,  together  with 
the  doings  of  Congress  or  the  State  Legislature,  political  events, 
some  rather  solemn  verse,  extended  obituaries,  and  a  few  items 
of  foreign  news. 

But  by  1834,  as  the  religious  life  of  the  nation  developed  and 
differences  of  doctrine  and  polity  became  more  sharply  defined, 
it  was  inevitable  that  the  religious  press  should  grow  more  ag- 
gressively denominational  and  theological.  And  when  ques- 
tions of  utmost  moment  affecting  the  political  and  social  life  of 
the  nation  became  insistent,  the  religious  journal  was  compelled 
to  deal  with  them;  so  it  enlarged  its  field  of  influence.  Also 
new  interests  and  activities  of  a  religious  sort,  such  as  the  Sunday- 
school  and  the  Temperance  Movement,  came  on  to  diversify 
still  more  the  work  of  the  religious  press. 

During  this  era  there  were  journalistic  giants  in  the  land, 
whose  names  were  household  words,  and  who  made  their  papers 
oracles  in  the  homes  where  they  were  received.  It  is  easy  to 
think  that  the  palmy  days  of  religious  journalism  were  in  that 
time,  when  such  men  as  Drs.  Field,  Prime,  Gray,  and  Dexter 
were  among  the  leaders  of  denominational  affairs  and  the  shap- 
ers  of  religious  opinion.  So  astute  an  observer  as  Mr.  James 
Bryce  wrote  in  his  American  Commonwealth  in  1888  that  the 
American  religious  weekly  was  a  force  of  immense  influence  in 
the  life  of  the  nation;   it  had  few  parallels  in  Europe. 

Perhaps  it  is  not  possible  to  put  the  finger  on  any  one  date  as 
marking  the  beginning  of  decline  in  the  prosperity  of  the  reli- 
gious press.  But  the  last  thirty  years  have  seen  a  significant 
decrease  both  in  the  number  and  circulation  of  religious  news- 
papers;  a  loss  also  in  a  certain  kind  of  authority.     Denomina- 


THE   RELIGIOUS    PRESS    IN   AMERICA        449 

tions  whose  organization  is  worked  to  maintain  their  publica- 
tions have  better  withstood  the  tendency  of  the  period,  but  the 
tendency  is  unmistakable.  Many  of  the  denominational  news- 
papers, especially  state  and  sectional  papers,  have  disappeared 
altogether;  others  have  been  consolidated  or  reestablished  on 
new  lines. 

There  are  several  reasons  for  this  decline.  The  increased 
complexity  of  modern  life  has  called  forth  the  specialized  re- 
ligious journal.  Each  interest  has  now  its  own  organ,  to  the 
disadvantage  of  the  general  newspaper.  The  slackening  of 
denominational  rivalries  and  the  increased  emphasis  on  a  broad 
Christianity  also  have  tended  to  undermine  the  denominational 
press.  Papers  and  magazines  without  the  denominational  mark 
have  thus  grown  into  large  popularity,  in  some  cases  dominating 
the  field.  Most  influential  of  all  in  weakening  the  prestige  of 
the  religious  press  is  the  modern  disposition  to  make  no  sharp 
distinction  between  things  sacred  and  secular.  The  New  York 
Observer  was  long  divided  into  two  parts,  one  called  the  religious 
department,  the  other  the  secular;  one  intended  to  be  read  on 
Sundays,  the  other  on  week  days.  One  of  the  early  religious 
newspapers  said  openly  that  it  did  not  consider  itself  suitable 
for  Sabbath  reading.  These  lines  of  separation  have  now 
largely  faded  from  men's  thought.  The  distinction  between 
the  modern  religious  journal  and  the  daily  or  weekly  newspaper 
which  is  edited  by  high-minded  men  and  in  accordance  with  the 
standards  of  Christian  ethics,  is  not  always  marked.  Each  of 
them  regards  all  the  fields  of  human  thought  and  activity  as 
proper  objects  of  its  survey. 

Similar  influences  have  brought  similar  results  in  the  sphere  of 
the  religious  review  and  magazine.  Theological  and  church 
reviews  have  never  found  so  assured  a  life  in  this  country  as  in 
England  and  on  the  Continent.  Yet  almost  every  denomination 
and  all  schools  of  theology  have  maintained  a  quarterly  or 
monthly  review.  The  development  of  the  specialized  magazine 
for  each  department  in  the  science  of  theology  and  for  each  of 
the  allied  sciences  has  multiplied  the  number  of  more  technical 
publications,  while  it  has  tended  to  reduce  the  number  of  denomi- 
national reviews.  Modest  journals  of  theological  seminary  life 
and  work,  of  which  the  Hartford  Seminary  Record  is  an  early  and 
honorable  representative,  are  taking  the  place  of  the  more  bulky 


450  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

and  staid  reviews.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the  latest  American 
theological  review  is  equipped  with  an  endowment  fund,  ex- 
perience having  shown  that  in  these  times  such  a  periodical 
can  hardly  sustain  itself. 

It  is  so  with  the  missionary  magazine.  The  Missionary 
Herald,  for  example,  had  several  thousand  more  subscribers  in 
the  year  when  Hartford  Seminary  was  founded  than  it  has  now ; 
in  the  seventies  its  subscription-list  was  twice  as  long  as  at  pres- 
ent. But  in  1834  it  had  its  field  largely  to  itself.  On  its  sober 
pages,  with  their  detailed  letters  and  journals,  was  reflected  as 
nowhere  else  the  romance  of  far-off  lands  and  the  life  of  strange 
peoples  as  seen  by  the  eyes  of  heroic  missionaries.  To-day  the 
foreign  missionary  society  must  send  out  its  unpretentious 
monthly  to  compete  with  the  cabled  reports  of  the  Associated 
Press  and  the  "kodak"  of  every  traveler. 

It  is  thus  unmistakable  that  within  the  latter  half  of  this  period 
of  seventy-five  years  there  has  been  a  shrinkage  in  the  field  of 
religious  journalism ;  but  the  loss  has  been  more  apparent  than 
real.  There  are  more  religious  papers  and  magazines  in  ex- 
istence to-day  than  thirty  or  forty  years  ago ;  only  not  so  many 
all-round  religious  newspapers.  This  is  the  day  of  the  spe- 
cialist rather  than  the  general  practitioner.  It  is  important  to 
recognize  also  that  there  is  far  more  religious  matter  appearing 
now  in  the  press  not  counted  distinctively  religious.  The  daily 
newspaper  discusses  church  affairs  and  religious  phenomena  as 
it  did  not  a  generation  ago,  the  popular  monthly  and  the  scien- 
tific review  also  include  more  strictly  religious  articles  than  used 
to  be  the  case,  and  missionary  news  and  scenes  now  make  good 
copy  for  daily  newspapers  and  the  weekly  picture-paper. 

Withal,  the  typical  religious  newspaper  and  magazine  of  to-day 
are  not  decadent  products.  Obliged  to  conform  to  changing  con- 
ditions and  to  adapt  themselves,  like  all  living  things,  to  the 
fashion  of  the  time,  they  still  remain  a  mighty  force  in  the  land. 
If  the  religious  journal  is  less  dogmatic  and  trenchant  than 
aforetime,  it  is  quite  as  fair,  sane,  and  convincing.  If  it  has 
lost  somewhat  in  prestige  and  dominance  as  a  denominational 
organ,  it  has  gained  in  the  wider  influence  of  its  judgment  in 
the  world  at  large  and  in  the  more  varied  service  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God. 


WORK   FOR   THE   DEAF 

Professor  Abel  Stanton  Clark 
American  School  for  the  Deaf,  Hartford,  Conn. 

I.  Development  of  Institutions.  —  When  Hartford  Seminary- 
was  founded  at  East  Windsor  Hill,  the  American  School  for 
the  Deaf,  now  its  near  neighbor  in  Hartford,  had  been  in  exist- 
ence for  seventeen  years.  The  philanthropic  impulse  which 
found  expression  in  this,  the  first  permanent  school  in  America 
for  the  deaf  and  dumb,  quickly  spread,  so  that  before  1834 
four  similar  schools  had  been  established  —  at  New  York  City, 
in  1818;  at  Philadelphia,  in  1820;  at  Danville,  Ky.,  in  1823; 
and  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  in  1829.  Since  then  such  schools  have 
been  opened  in  nearly  every  state,  some  states  indeed  having 
several;  so  that,  counting  public,  private,  day,  and  denomina- 
tional, there  are  now  one  hundred  and  thirty-nine  schools  for 
the  deaf  in  the  United  States,  while  Canada  has  seven. 

The  number  of  pupils  enrolled  in  this  country  in  November, 
1907,  was  11,648,  of  whom  fifty-four  per  cent,  were  males.  Of 
the  1552  instructors,  471,  or  about  thirty  per  cent.,  were  males. 
At  first,  and  for  a  period  of  about  forty  years,  no  female  was 
employed  as  a  teacher.  The  aggregate  value  of  buildings, 
grounds,  and  equipment  is  now  over  $15,000,000;  and  the 
annual  cost  of  maintenance  is  over  $3,000,000.  The  sixty 
public  schools  are  supported  by  city,  county,  or  state,  with  the 
aid  in  some  instances  of  endowments  and  pay-pupils.  In  no 
other  country  is  provision  for  the  education  of  the  deaf  so  liberal, 
the  expenditure  per  capita  so  great,  or  the  standard  of  expected 
attainment  so  high. 

It  was  at  first  deemed  proper  that  parents  or  friends  of  pupils 
should  pay  their  board  and  tuition,  the  annual  charge  at  the 
Hartford  school  being  then  $200  each;  but  it  soon  became 
obvious  that  this  necessary  charge  was  quite  beyond  the  means 
of  many.  Public  interest  was  further  awakened,  with  the  re- 
sult that,  through  the  bounty  of  Congress,  the  Hartford  school 
acquired  a  fund,  since  then  greatly  but  necessarily  diminished, 

451 


452  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

which  enabled  it  for  a  while  to  charge  only  $ioo  per  annum. 
Subsequently,  also,  the  different  states  voted  money  for  the  educa- 
tion of  their  indigent  deaf,  and  finally  an  enlightened  public 
opinion  conceded  the  equal  claim  of  the  deaf  with  that  of  the 
hearing.  The  present  per  capita  cost  of  educating  deaf  children 
is  from  $165  to  $350  per  annum. 

2.  Methods  of  Instruction.  —  When  Rev.  Thomas  H.  Gal- 
laudet  went  to  Europe  in  181 5  to  learn  what  means  were  there 
employed  in  educating  the  deaf,  he  found  two  different  methods. 
In  Great  Britain  and  Germany  speech  was  generally  relied  upon 
with  more  or  less  help  of  signs;  while  in  France,  especially  at 
the  Paris  school,  the  sign-language,  supplemented  by  the  manual 
alphabet  and  writing,  was  most  used.  After  carefully  observing 
and  comparing  the  two  methods,  Mr.  Gallaudet  decided  that  by 
the  use  of  signs,  finger-spelling,  and  writing,  the  largest  number 
of  the  deaf  and  dumb  could  be  benefited  and  their  highest  men- 
tal and  moral  development  secured.  For  many  years,  as  new 
schools  were  opened,  they  were  mostly  under  men  who  had 
obtained  experience  at  Hartford  and  used  the  same  method. 

In  1844  Mr.  Weld,  then  principal  at  the  Hartford  school, 
went  abroad  under  the  auspices  of  that  institution  and  the 
Philadelphia  school,  to  ascertain  what,  if  any,  modifications 
might  profitably  be  made  in  the  American  way  of  teaching. 
After  an  absence  of  eight  months,  during  which  he  visited  nine 
•different  countries  and  inspected  between  thirty  and  forty 
schools,  Mr.  Weld  expressed  the  opinion  that  no  considerable 
change  was  desirable.  He,  however,  recommended  that  more 
attention  should  be  given  to  the  teaching  of  speech  and  lip- 
reading  to  children  becoming  deaf  after  birth  and  to  those  only 
partly  deaf.  Upon  this,  the  Directors  of  the  Hartford  school 
voted  "to  give  the  teaching  of  articulation  a  full  and  prolonged 
trial  and  to  do  in  this  branch  everything  that  is  practically  and 
permanently  useful."  A  special  teacher  of  articulation  was 
accordingly  appointed,  and  the  use  of  speech  encouraged. 
Since  the  application  of  the  principle  of  "Visible  Speech"  to 
articulation-teaching  by  Dr.  A.  Graham  Bell  nearly  forty  years 
ago,  special  teachers,  having  an  expert  knowledge  of  vocal  physi- 
ology, have  been  enabled  to  bring  about  better  speech  and  lip- 
reading,  and  also  to  extend  their  application  with  benefit  to  a 
larger  proportion  of  the  deaf  than  was  previously  possible. 


WORK   FOR   THE   DEAF  ,         453 

The  question  of  methods  has  often  been  warmly  and  some- 
times acrimoniously  discussed  among  teachers  themselves,  and 
it  is  hardly  settled  yet ;  but  a  general  agreement  along  certain 
definite  lines  is  not  far  off.  Prejudices  based  upon  insufficient 
knowledge  are  giving  way,  and  the  deaf  child's  right  to  be  taught 
by  such  methods  as  will  best  fit  him  for  a  useful  and  happy  life 
is  coming  to  be  universally  conceded.  All  persons  are  com- 
mend ably  ready  to  applaud  what  promises  to  confer  speech 
upon  the  deaf,  but  few  have  either  the  time  or  experience  re- 
quired for  a  just  opinion  concerning  each  individual  case.  Few 
persons  are  able  rightly  to  appreciate  the  splendid  achievements 
of  the  born-deaf  child  who,  under  any  system  of  instruction, 
has  won  a  practical  education. 

At  the  present  time  about  seventy  per  cent,  of  the  pupils  in 
American  schools  for  the  deaf  are  taught  speech,  with  widely 
differing  degrees  of  success.  Of  these  a  considerable  number 
are  able,  after  leaving  school,  to  depend  upon  speech  and  lip- 
reading  in  communicating  with  those  about  them;  while  many, 
for  various  reasons,  either  drop  them  entirely  or  use  them  with 
intimate  friends  only.  The  persistence  of  speech  acquired 
normally  through  the  ear  in  childhood,  and  the  ease  with  which 
it  may  slip  away  if  acquired  through  the  eye  only,  are  undeniable 
facts. 

3.  Industrial  Training.  —  The  need  of  industrial  training 
for  the  deaf  was  early  recognized,  and  is  now  more  thoroughly 
carried  on  than  ever  before.  Instruction  in  various  forms  of 
manual  art  is  given  in  all  good  schools.  Wood-working  and 
printing  are  perhaps  most  in  favor  for  boys,  though  many  other 
lines  of  work  are  taught  according  to  local  preference  or  demand ; 
while  girls  are  taught  domestic  science  and  dressmaking. 
Drawing  also  receives  considerable  attention. 

4.  Helps  in  Teaching.  —  No  children  are  more  in  need  of 
object-teaching  than  the  deaf,  and  so  it  has  come  about  that 
many  schools  are  equipped,  some  quite  elaborately,  with  col- 
lections of  pictures,  natural  history  specimens,  books,  and  ap- 
paratus for  illustration  and  instruction  all  through  the  course 
of  study.  In  the  early  days  of  deaf-mute  teaching,  there  were 
no  special  books  suited  to  the  needs  of  teacher  or  pupil,  and  it 
was  no  light  task  to  provide  lessons  according  to  a  progressive 
system.     Of  late  years,  however,  this  difficulty  has  been  much 


454  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

diminished.  By  means  of  the  Ellen  Lyman  publication  fund 
and  the  Joseph  Davis  illustration  fund  the  school  at  Hartford 
has  issued  a  number  of  books  prepared  by  its  teachers,  some  of 
which  are  extensively  used  not  only  in  the  United  States  but 
also  in  all  other  English-speaking  countries,  and  have  also  been 
translated  into  other  languages. 

5.  The  Length  of  Time  at  School.  —  For  the  deaf  child,  as 
for  the  hearing,  the  standard  of  education  has  been  notably 
raised,  involving  a  corresponding  addition  to  the  time  spent  at 
school.  At  first  the  Directors  at  Hartford  expressed  the  hope 
that  every  pupil  would  remain  at  least  four  years.  Since  then 
the  course  of  study  and  the  time  allowed  for  it  have  been  gradu- 
ally extended  to  cover  ten  and  even  twelve  years.  In  Pennsyl- 
vania a  deaf  child  may  remain  at  school  fourteen  years,  and 
in  New  York  seventeen. 

6.  The  Age  of  Admission.  —  Children  under  ten  years  of  age 
were  at  first  excluded  from  the  school  at  Hartford,  and  some  of 
the  states  sending  pupils  here  required  their  beneficiaries  to  be 
at  least  fourteen,  the  object  being  to  avoid  a  seeming  waste  of 
public  money,  as  it  was  felt  that  a  considerable  degree  of  physi- 
cal maturity  was  desirable  before  a  pupil  could  begin  learning 
a  trade  at  school.  As  the  time  allowed  at  school  was  extended, 
the  age  of  admission  was  lowered,  both  these  changes  being 
effected  to  a  considerable  degree  through  the  increased  attention 
given  in  recent  years  to  the  more  general  teaching  of  speech, 
since  it  is  felt  that  such  instruction  cannot  be  begun  too  early. 
For  this  reason  many  schools  receive  pupils  at  four  or  five  years, 
and  some  welcome  them  at  two  years  of  age.  In  striking  con- 
trast to  this  is  the  fact  that,  up  to  the  year  1844,  Hartford  had 
received  27  pupils  at  ten  years  of  age,  79  at  fifteen,  20  at  twenty, 
17  at  twenty-five,  13  at  thirty,  i  at  forty,  and  i  at  fifty. 

7.  The  Course  of  Study.  —  To  modern  teachers  of  the  deaf 
it  is  no  small  surprise  that  the  early  instructors  were  able  to 
accomplish  so  much  under  the  then  prevailing  conditions,  for 
they  managed  in  a  few  years  to  give  their  pupils  a  vast  amount 
of  useful  information,  both  general  and  religious,  and  also  to 
give  them  a  considerable  facility  in  reading,  and,  what  is  much 
more  difficult,  the  expression  of  thought  by  means  of  the  Eng- 
lish language.  It  is  on  record  that  in  1846  a  class  at  Hartford 
was  studying  a  book  on  Logic  by  Levi  Hedge,  a  professor  at 


WORK    FOR   THE    DEAF  455 

Harvard.  Corresponding  to  the  opportunity  furnished  by  a 
longer  time  at  school,  the  course  of  study  has  been  amplified 
and  enriched,  so  that  the  curriculum  of  the  best  schools  now 
includes  instruction  in  Speech  and  Lip-reading,  Reading 
and  Writing  the  English  Language,  Arithmetic,  Geography, 
American  and  English  History,  Literature,  Current  Events, 
Civics,  Physiology,  Natural  Science,  and  sometimes  Botany  and 
General  History. 

To  those  who  have  the  inclination  and  ability  for  further  study, 
Gallaudet  College,  founded  in  1864  at  Washington,  D.C.,  sus- 
tained by  the  National  Government,  and  the  only  college  for 
the  deaf  in  the  world,  is  freely  open.  Over  eight  hundred 
students,  coming  from  nearly  every  state  and  territory,  have 
entered  there,  and  a  large  number  have  graduated.  For  the 
training  of  teachers,  a  Normal  department  at  the  college  and 
classes  at  several  institutions  are  available. 

8.  The  Deaf  after  Leaving  School.  —  It  may  with  confidence 
be  affirmed  that  no  expenditure  of  public  money  and  of  personal 
effort  can  show  more  satisfactory  results  than  are  seen  in  the 
education  of  the  deaf  and  dumb.  On  leaving  school,  with 
few  exceptions,  they  become  active  and  productive  members  of 
the  community.  They  are  good  neighbors  and  good  citizens. 
They  work  on  farms  and  in  shops.  Not  a  few  enter  some 
branch  of  business  or  professional  life  in  which  deafness  does 
not  constitute  a  bar  to  success.  Seventeen  per  cent.,  two 
hundred  and  fifty-eight  in  all,  of  the  teachers  of  the  deaf  in 
the  United  States  are  themselves  deaf. 

In  many  cities  societies  of  the  deaf  exist  for  the  purpose  of 
holding  social  and  religious  meetings.  Several  churches  also 
have  been  established  for  them,  the  oldest  being  St.  Ann's,  New 
York  City,  founded  in  1853.  For  such  as  may  be  overtaken  by 
misfortune  or  old  age  without  means  of  support,  homes  sup- 
ported by  private  benevolence  have  been  established  in  several 
states. 

Two  organizations  of  principals  and  teachers,  each  of  which 
publishes  a  bimonthly  magazine,  afford  adequate  opportunity 
for  the  interchange  of  views  and  experiences,  while  the  Volta 
Bureau  at  Washington,  D.C.,  publishes  valuable  statistics  and 
other  information  relating  to  the  deaf. 


WORK  FOR  THE   POOR 

David  I.  Green,  Ph.D. 
Hartford,  Conn. 

Some  twelve  years  before  the  opening  of  the  Seminary  at  East 
Windsor  Hill,  George  Goodwin  &  Sons  of  Hartford  pub- 
lished the  sermons  of  Dr.  Thomas  Chalmers  of  Glasgow.  Of 
these  sermons  the  one  of  most  enduring  interest  had  for  its  text, 
"Blessed  is  he  that  considereth  the  poor;  the  Lord  will  deliver 
him  in  time  of  trouble." 

Dr.  Chalmers  was  at  that  time  carrying  on  a  most  notable 
work  in  his  Glasgow  parish,  in  which  the  principles  of  modern 
charity  were  first  clearly  enunciated  and  exemplified.  The 
gradual  extension  into  Scotland  of  the  English  system  of  out- 
door relief  had  given  him  an  opportunity  to  study  its  effects 
upon  the  morale  of  the  people ;  and  uniting,  as  he  did,  kindly 
sympathy  with  a  keen  perception  of  spiritual  values,  he  became 
an  uncompromising  opponent  of  the  compulsory  poor-rate. 
With  profound  respect  for  the  humble  virtues  of  industry,  thrift, 
independence,  filial  responsibility,  and  neighborly  kindness, 
which  he  found  among  the  Scotch  peasantry,  he  looked  with 
dismay  upon  the  encroachment  of  a  system  which  appeared  to 
develop  an  irresponsible  pauper  class  expecting  support  from 
funds  forced  from  the  givers  by  the  tax-collector. 

Although  the  English  system  was  strongly  intrenched  in 
Glasgow,  Dr.  Chalmers  boldly  accepted  the  responsibility  of 
providing  for  all  the  poor  of  his  parish  without  help  from  the 
poor-rates;  and  to  raise  money  for  this  purpose  asked  only  for 
collections  at  the  Sunday  evening  services,  which  were  attended 
by  the  poorer  people.  The  experiment  was  in  every  way  suc- 
cessful, and  has  continued  to  be  a  source  of  inspiration,  while 
the  form  of  organization  and  the  directions  given  for  the  guid- 
ance of  the  helpers  are  still  replete  with  valuable  suggestions 
for  the  modern  social  worker. 

The  negative  side  of  Dr.  Chalmers'  doctrine  was  soon  put 

456 


WORK   FOR   THE    POOR  457 

into  practice  to  a  large  extent  in  the  reform  of  the  English  poor- 
law.  The  economic  and  moral  evils  of  the  growing  pauperism 
had  became  too  apparent  and  too  burdensome  to  be  tolerated, 
and  drastic  restrictions  were  applied  with  beneficial  results. 

In  America  the  problem  of  poor-relief  had  not  yet  become 
large  in  its  proportions.  The  legal  responsibility  for  providing 
for  the  poor  was  vested  in  local  overseers  or  selectmen  who  had 
recourse  to  the  public  taxes,  but  the  prevailing  spirit  of  industry 
and  thrift,  the  general  knowledge  of  and  interest  in  neighbor- 
hood affairs,  and  the  lack  of  surplus  wealth,  prevented  any  seri- 
ous development  of  pauperism  except  in  a  few  of  the  larger 
cities.  Yet  poor-relief  appears  in  dual  aspects  from  the  earliest 
period  of  our  national  history.  Upon  one  side  we  find  references 
to  the  widow  or  the  invalid  aided  by  free  neighborly  service  at 
seed-time  and  harvest,  or  by  a  kindly  sharing  of  crops;  while, 
upon  the  other  hand,  the  history  of  our  poor-laws  presents 
recurring  pictures  of  thrifty  selectmen  trying  with  varying  suc- 
cess to  devise  means  of  escape  from  the  burden  of  supporting  a 
group  of  indolent  and  dissipated  paupers. 

As  towns  grew  into  cities  of  considerable  size,  and  the  more 
prosperous  were  no  longer  personally  acquainted  with  the  needy, 
the  abiding  source  of  neighborly  responsibility  led  to  the  forma- 
tion of  relief  societies  for  more  efficient  work  along  the  lines  in 
which  the  members  were  interested.  Naturally  all  these  so- 
cieties were  designed  to  aid  the  distinctively  worthy  poor;  but 
even  the  worthy  are  subject  to  temptation,  especially  when 
dealing  with  strangers ;  and  in  the  larger  cities,  where  the  relief 
societies  had  become  numerous,  it  was  soon  discovered  that  im- 
providence, indolence,  and  deceit  were  being  cultivated  in  the 
name  of  charity. 

In  the  year  1843  a  committee  of  public-spirited  citizens  of 
New  York,  inquiring  into  the  work  of  the  thirty  or  more  relief 
societies  operating  in  that  city,  found  that  there  was  a  general 
lack  of  discrimination  in  giving  relief,  that  the  societies  worked 
independently  of  each  other,  and  that  they  failed  to  make  ade- 
quate provision  for  personal  intercourse  with  the  recipient  of 
alms.  As  a  result  of  this  movement  "  The  Association  for  Im- 
proving the  Condition  of  the  Poor"  was  organized.  The  very 
name  of  this  society  indicates  an  important  forward  step,  in 
recognizing  that  character  and  social  conditions  are  plastic  and 


458  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

improvable.  During  the  subsequent  decade  and  a  half,  so- 
cieties of  similar  purpose  were  organized  in  Baltimore,  Boston, 
and  Chicago,  each  becoming  in  its  respective  city  the  leading 
organ  for  the  administration  of  private  relief. 

While  the  announced  purpose  of  these  societies  was  quite  in 
line  with  modern  standards  of  social  work,  its  actual  accomplish- 
ment was  hindered  by  the  educational  limitations  of  the  time. 
The  contributors  to  the  societies'  funds  were  interested  in  the 
relief  of  want  rather  than  the  slow  and  difficult  work  of  develop- 
ing thrifty  habits.  They  wished  their  money  to  be  used  for 
supplying  coal  and  provisions  rather  than  for  the  payment  of 
large  and  numerous  salaries.  The  agents  of  the  society,  limited 
in  number  and  beset  by  numerous  importunate  applicants  for 
the  bounty  which  was  at  their  disposal,  could  hardly  be  blamed 
for  reverting  to  the  easy  and  practical,  though  socially  ineffective^ 
methods  of  the  earlier  relief  societies. 

It  was  not  till  the  year  1869  that  the  positive  side  of  Dr. 
Chalmers'  doctrine  —  the  reduction  of  pauperism  by  careful 
inquiry  into  the  conditions  of  each  needy  family,  the  securing  of 
needed  aid  from  sources  nearest  to  the  applicant,  and  the  de- 
velopment of  self-help  through  active  and  persistent  personal 
service  —  became  permanently  established  as  a  working  method 
in  poor-relief.  For  several  years  large  relief-funds  had  been 
distributed  in  London  with  results  so  unsatisfactory  that  Ed- 
ward Denison,  the  forerunner  of  the  social  settlement  move- 
ment, who  took  up  his  residence  at  this  time  in  the  East  End  of 
London,  reported  that  he  was  beginning  seriously  to  believe  that 
all  bodily  aid  to  the  poor  was  a  mistake;  that  it  was  better  *'to 
let  things  work  themselves  straight;  whereas,  by  giving  alms 
you  keep  them  permanently  crooked."  To  correct  the  growing 
abuses  of  charity  and  redeem  it  from  this  unbecoming  disrepute, 
there  was  formed  at  this  time  the  London  Society  for  Organizing 
Charitable  Relief  and  Repressing  Mendacity.  Ten  years  later 
the  Buffalo  Charity  Organization  Society  was  formed  through 
the  influence  of  a  former  member  of  the  London  Society, 
and  in  a  few  years  the  new  movement  spread  to  nearly  all  the 
large  cities  of  the  English-speaking  world. 

The  charity  organization  movement  naturally  assumed  some- 
what varying  aspects  in  adapting  itself  to  local  conditions 
in  different  cities.     In  communities  already  supplied  with  nu- 


WORK   FOR   THE    POOR  459 

mcrous  relief  agencies,  cooperation  was  made  the  leading  fea- 
ture. The  charity  organization  society,  refraining  from  giving 
relief  from  its  own  funds,  supplied  the  trained  service  for  investi- 
gation, registration,  and  the  continued  oversight  of  needy  fami- 
lies, while  depending  upon  cooperating  societies  for  such  relief 
as  was  not  available  from  relatives  or  other  nearer  and  more 
personal  sources.  In  some  instances  the  early  effort  of  the 
society  was  largely  negative,  aiming  to  reduce  the  amount 
of  public  outdoor  relief,  and  to  protect  private  funds  from  the 
importunity  of  people  who  did  not  require  relief,  or  whose  con- 
duct did  not  justify  the  grants  which  they  asked.  In  some 
cities,  where  the  existing  relief  work  was  inadequate,  the  charity 
organization  societies  started  as  relief-giving  agencies,  some- 
times with  wood-yards  and  workrooms  as  a  prominent  feature, 
but  always  at  least  professing  to  make  the  dispensing  of  relief 
subordinate  to  work  for  the  permanent  improvement  of  the 
applicant's  situation.  In  other  cities  the  leading  feature  of  the 
charity  organization  society  or  associated  charities  has  been 
the  organization  and  training  of  volunteer  visitors,  each  of  whom 
undertakes  to  befriend  one  or  more  of  the  needy  families,  and  to 
bring  to  bear  upon  them  the  resources  of  helpful  friendly 
intercourse  in  a  more  personal  and  continuous  way  than  is 
possible  for  the  society's  agents. 

A  most  important  source  of  strength  to  the  charity  organi- 
zation movement  has  been  its  connection  with  educational  work. 
It  has  always  allied  itself  with  the  investigation  of  social  prob- 
lems and  the  teaching  of  social  science  in  university  and  col- 
lege. The  teacher  of  social  science  is  always  to  be  found  on  the 
board  of  directors  of  the  charity  organization  society,  while 
the  secretaries  in  charge  of  the  work  of  the  societies  are  usually 
graduates  from  the  social  science  courses,  and  not  infrequently 
are  themselves  teachers  and  lecturers  in  this  field  of  study. 
This  connection  has  helped  to  preserve  a  truth-seeking  attitude, 
and  has  kept  the  charity  organization  societies  from  being 
swayed  too  much  by  the  prejudices  of  their  supporters.  In 
fact,  these  societies  have  always  recognized  the  necessity  and  ac- 
cepted the  duty  of  educating  the  public  to  give  wisely  as  well 
as  generously. 

Two  developments  of  extreme  importance  have  resulted  from 
this  alliance  of  the  charity  organization  movement  with  edu- 


46o  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

cational  work  —  the  establishment  of  schools  of  philanthropy 
to  give  training  for  social  service,  and  the  elevation  in  the  stand- 
ard of  educational  and  personal  equipment  regarded  as  neces- 
sary for  work  in  this  field.  Years  ago  it  was  not  uncommon 
for  the  agent  of  a  charitable  society  to  be  some  one  who  had 
failed  in  other  vocations,  and  whose  employment  was  itself  a 
measure  of  relief.  Now  some  of  the  most  capable  of  our  uni- 
versity graduates  are  being  drafted  into  this  service,  and  special 
ability  and  professional  training  are  required  even  in  sub- 
ordinate positions. 

The  old-time  task  of  dealing  out  to  the  poor  with  some  dis- 
cretion whatever  supplies  of  food,  fuel,  and  old  clothing  were  at 
hand  did  not  seem  difficult,  but  the  agent  of  the  present-day 
charitable  society  understands  that  he  is  dealing  with  patho- 
logical conditions  of  great  variety  and  endless  complications. 
He  is  expected  in  each  case  to  make  a  correct  diagnosis  of  the 
trouble  and  its  cause,  and  then  to  organize,  develop,  and  draw 
upon  the  resources  of  the  community,  economic  and  personal, 
for  the  appropriate  and  effective  remedy.  He  must  find  not 
only  food  for  the  hungry  and  shelter  for  the  homeless,  but  op- 
portunity for  the  unfortunate,  and  health  and  efficiency  for  the 
sickly  and  indolent.  He  must  restrain  the  self-indulgent,  stimu- 
late the  inert,  encourage  the  despondent,  and  strengthen  the 
weak.  One  who  attempts  to  lead  the  charitable  forces  of  a 
community  should  thoroughly  understand  economic  law.  The 
professional  services  of  lawyers,  dentists,  medical  specialists, 
and  nurses  must  be  at  command.  The  visiting  agents  must  be 
intensely  practical,  able  to  see  things  as  they  appear  from  the 
points  of  view  of  the  applicants  of  all  nationalities,  and  from  the 
most  varied  social  environments.  They  must  be  practical 
psychologists  —  able  to  detect  and  repress  the  false  note,  and 
skillful  in  appealing  to  the  latent  desire  for  better  things.  They 
must  be  so  versed  in  practical  affairs  that  they  can  tell  when  an 
existing  condition  has  been  accounted  for,  and  when  a  professed 
situation  has  been  established  as  a  fact.  They  should  be  expert 
in  child-study,  in  dietetics,  and  practical  housekeeping.  They 
must  be  resourceful  in  adapting  means  to  ends,  forceful  in  execu- 
tion, yet  delicately  sensitive  to  the  effect  of  word  or  deed.  They 
must  thoroughly  understand  the  social  forces  of  their  districts, 
both  helpful  and  harmful,  and  withal  be  able  to  enlist  and  lead 


WORK   FOR   THE   POOR  461 

volunteers  in  paths  of  helpful  social  service.  It  is  not  strange 
that  such  a  task  appeals  to  worthy  young  people  who  have  an 
ambition  to  accomplish  something  worth  while. 

The  efifect  of  this  new  attitude  toward  social  service  is  by  no 
means  confined  to  the  charity  organization  societies.  The 
older  relief  societies  are  accepting  the  new  standards,  and  are 
calling  upon  the  schools  of  philanthropy  for  trained  workers. 
Humane  societies,  children's  aid  societies,  and  public  charity 
boards  are  looking  to  the  same  sources  for  guidance,  and  the 
new  spirit  is  taking  possession  of  our  police  courts.  The  whole 
field  of  social  service  is  becoming  increasingly  possessed  of  a 
spirit  of  youthful  ambition.  The  fact  that  hopeless  misery  and 
want  have  persisted,  and  even  increased,  in  the  centers  of  our 
civilization  and  wealth,  is  no  longer  taken  as  a  proof  that  such 
conditions  must  be  accepted  for  the  future.  The  discourage- 
ment resulting  from  the  failure  of  doles  to  give  relief  is  giving 
way  to  confidence,  founded  upon  scientific  analysis  of  the  prob- 
lem and  partial  attainment  of  results. 

Undertaking  work  for  the  poor  in  this  progressive  spirit,  it  was 
to  be  expected  that  charitable  societies  would  give  increased 
attention  to  the  broader  questions  of  social  reform,  in  which  the 
strong  arm  of  public  opinion  and  governmental  action  can  be 
brought  into  service  —  efforts  for  the  improvement  of  the  envi- 
ronment of  the  needy,  the  promotion  of  public  health,  the  better 
protection  and  development  of  children,  and  the  more  efficient 
and  economical  administration  of  justice.  Destitution  and 
depravity  are  frequently  manifestations  of  individual  weakness, 
but  no  less  frequently  they  arise  from  social  wrongs  and  social 
neglect.  It  is  in  this  field  of  social  betterment  that  the  greatest 
progress  has  been  made  in  the  past  few  years  in  work  for  the 
poor ;  and  the  recent  endowment  of  the  Sage  Foundation  for  the 
investigation  and  promotion  of  effective  methods  of  social 
advancement  gives  promise  of  accelerated  progress  in  the  near 
future. 


SOCIAL   SETTLEMENTS 

Rev.  Albert  Rhys  Williams,  B.D. 

Maverick  Congregational  Church,  East  Boston,  Mass. 

Hartford  must  celebrate  its  one  hundred  and  twenty-fifth 
anniversary  before  we  can  write  of  "  Seventy-Five  Years  of  Prog- 
ress in  Social  Settlements."  Arnold  Toynbee,  saving  lives  in  the 
slums  of  London,  lost  his  own  life,  and  Oxford  consecrated  his 
memory  by  helping  to  erect  the  first  settlement,  Toynbee  Hall, 
founded  in  1884.  Of  course,  as  the  log  hut  was  in  a  way  the 
first  skyscraper,  so  the  first  man  who  befriended  his  less  fortunate 
fellow-creature  was  really  the  first  social  settlement.  But,  as 
this  is  not  a  history  of  all  good  Samaritans,  we  can  deal  only 
with  these  last  twenty-five  years  in  which  the  fellowship-feeling 
has  institutionalized  itself  —  from  the  founding  of  Toynbee 
Hall  to  the  seventy-fifth  anniversary  of  Hartford  Seminary. 

A  settlement  is  not  merely  a  building  squeezed  into  crowded 
quarters  to  make  them  still  more  crowded,  from  which  sally 
forth  a  stream  of  licensed  philanthropists  fully  determined  to 
hunt  the  poor  from  slum  to  tenement.  The  soul  of  the  social 
settlement  is  neighborliness,  and  in  that  transaction  there  must 
be  at  least  two  parties.  The  settlement  must  have  the  cooper- 
ation of  the  community  if  it  would  realize  its  ideal  of  "  rehabili- 
tating the  neighborhood  from  within."  Instead  of,  as  of  yore, 
one  or  two  men  helplessly  isolated  amid  a  mass  of  misery,  ten 
or  twenty  now  form  a  "resident  club  with  a  purpose,"  and  the 
soul  is  bodied  in  a  building. 

Into  this  building  come  men  and  women  from  college,  busi- 
ness, and  profession,  to  share  their  lives  in  work  and  play  with 
children  and  women  from  street  and  slum,  and  with  men  from 
the  grimy  factories.  Out  of  this  building  some  go  to  home  or 
workshop  new  heartened  for  the  fight,  others  to  office  or  to  col- 
lege halls  with  a  new  grip  upon  the  meaning  of  the  life-struggle. 
There  are  three  hundred  such  city  settlements  attempting  "to 
extend   democracy  beyond  its  political   expression,"  breaking 

462 


SOCIAL   SETTLEMENTS  463 

down  the  barriers  of  class  and  caste  and  creed.  The  idea  is 
still  expanding,  and  is  now  invading  the  country  with  settle- 
ments for  neglected  villages  and  the  mountain-whites. 

How  the  social  settlement  ministers,  depends  on  where  it 
ministers  and  who  are  the  ministers.  If  it  settles  in  the  midst 
of  foreigners,  it  will  strive  to  make  these  suspicious  and  warring 
elements  understand  and  respect  one  another.  If  it  is  in  a 
Jewish  district,  there  must  be  much  literature  and  civics  for 
these  people  who  are  aggressively  seeking  to  understand  our 
American  institutions.  If  the  district  is  very  unhealthful,  sani- 
tative  and  medical  work  will  be  prominent. 

There  is  no  one  type  or  pattern.  The  forms  are  not  cast. 
There  must  be  personality  and  plasticity  in  every  settlement. 
One  may  specialize  in  children's  work,  and  in  it  there  is  a 
creche  for  infants.  Health  is  inculcated,  theoretically  by  teach- 
ing and  practically  by  scrubbing,  thrift  by  the  Penny  Savings 
Bank,  social  grace  by  entertainments,  and  real  work  by  wood- 
carving  and  sewing.  For  the  women  there  are  country  homes 
for  summer  escape,  coal  and  clothing  clubs  in  which  to  learn 
the  advantage  of  cooperative  buying.  ^Esthetic  taste  is  devel- 
oped by  lending  out  pictures  and  by  growing  plants  for  prizes. 
In  other  settlements  the  open  debates  act  as  a  safety-valve  for 
society  by  providing  a  place  where  the  revolutionists  in  politics 
and  religion  may  explode.  But  the  discussions  are  more  than 
society's  life-preservers,  for,  though  the  inflammatory  speeches 
are  often  ready-made,  they  breathe  a  fine  ardor  of  devotion  and 
idealism.  Many  trade-unions  now  rent  their  rooms  in  a  settle- 
ment instead  of  in  a  saloon;  and,  while  chary  of  charity,  men 
do  go  to  the  "Poor  Man's  Lawyer"  for  legal  advice,  to  the 
lectures  for  instruction,  and  to  the  travel  clubs,  in  which  work- 
men by  contributing  a  little  week  by  week  make  tours  even  to 
foreign  lands. 

Docs  the  critic  ask,  "Why  is  the  social  settlement  necessary?" 
Are  not  the  schools  and  libraries  and  parks  of  the  state  better 
than  the  private  undertakings  of  the  settlement?  To  belittle 
the  works  of  the  settlement  is  to  disparage  the  pattern  after  w^e 
have  seen  the  structure  modeled  from  it.  The  settlement  is 
drained  by  its  very  excess  of  good  works.  As  soon  as  a  settle- 
ment demonstrates  the  value  of  a  social  enterprise,  the  state  or 
city  bids  for  public  favor  by  doing  it  in  a  grander  way.     The 


464  RECENT  CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

Saturday-night  concerts  of  England  and  the  neighborhood- 
centers  in  the  parks  of  Chicago  are  city  enterprises,  but  they  got 
their  initiative  from  the  settlement.  An  old  lady  told  a  settle- 
ment worker  that  her  husband  died  of  "general  ability"  — a 
rare  but  most  fatal  disease.  It  is  the  only  one  which  can  kill 
the  settlement.  When  the  millennium  dawns  and  all  social  evils 
are  exorcised,  there  will  then  be  nothing  left  for  the  settlement 
to  do.  Until  that  perfect  day  there  must  be  some  such  institu- 
tion to  experiment,  to  initiate  new  ideas,  and  to  prod  the  slowly- 
plodding  government  into  action. 

The  range  of  settlement  activity  is  ever  widening.  From  the 
individual,  interest  has  gone  to  the  group,  and  from  the  group 
to  all  society.  The  pioneers  said,  "  Let  us  reform  the  vices  of 
the  victim  of  overcrowding"  —  the  individual.  Then  they  said, 
"  Let  us  provide  a  room  where  the  many  victims  can  obtain  some 
respite  from  overcrowding" — the  group.  To-day  the  settle- 
ments are  saying,  "  Let  us  go  to  the  root  of  the  evils  and  abolish 
overcrowding."  That  means  legislative  action  or  "going  into 
politics."  They  enforce  old  laws  and  help  make  new  ones. 
While  residents  are  still  pouring  tea  at  mothers'  meetings,  or 
giving  Browning  talks  to  the  derelicts  in  the  lodging-house  an- 
nex, they  are  also  on  councils  and  in  political  clubs,  demanding 
measures  which  make  for  better  conditions,  helping  to  evolve 
the  new  social  state.  They  find  that  they  can  do  this  better  by 
concerted  action,  and  the  latest  development  is  the  "trustifica- 
tion" of  the  settlements.  All  of  those  in  northern  New  Jersey 
are  in  one  union,  and  the  Neighborhood  Workers  of  New  York 
also  form  one  organization.  The  settlements  thus  bring  a 
unified  public  sentiment  to  bear  upon  measures  for  the  common 
good. 

Besides  its  great  social  work  of  initiating  legislation,  instigating 
civic  action,  cleansing  ward  politics,  creating  a  community  spirit 
where  formerly  there  was  no  corporate  soul,  and  recovering  to  the 
city  the  idea  of  neighborhood,  the  settlement  has  worked  directly 
for  the  individual.  It  has  brought  him  into  contact  with  the 
"residents,"  who  are  living  testimonies  to  religion  and  morality. 

So  much  has  the  settlement  done  for  the  man  outside.  But 
what  has  it  done  for  the  man  inside?  The  "residents"  share 
their  lives,  and  they  receive  as  they  give.  True,  the  settlements 
for  some  have  been  only  pleasant  citadels  in  the  midst  of  the 


SOCIAL   SETTLEMENTS  465 

underworld  from  which  they  view  the  havoc  wrought  by  the  sin 
and  selfishness  of  to-day.  They  have  been  watch-towers  rather 
than  lighthouses.  But,  though  the  altruists  inside  have  not 
always  illuminated  the  ignorance  of  the  masses  outside,  the 
masses  have  illuminated  the  ignorance  of  the  altruists.  What 
prejudices  have  been  demolished,  what  enthusiasm  has  been 
roused  in  a  man  who  got  a  first  glimpse  into  the  life  and  labor 
of  the  people  by  his  visit  to  the  settlement !  One  cannot  estimate 
the  indirect  influence  of  the  settlement  upon  our  political  and 
social  life.  One  cause  of  the  sympathetic  response  of  Oxford 
and  Cambridge  to  the  labor-movement  has  been  the  social  set- 
tlement. While  this  "laboratory  for  social  facts"  exists,  men 
who  talk  and  legislate  about  the  poor  can  ofifer  no  excuse  for 
ignorance. 

Many  lament  the  absence  of  religion  from  the  settlement,  but 
the  founder,  Canon  Barnett,  maintained  that  the  only  condition 
on  which  a  settlement  could  be  a  meeting-ground  for  all  creeds 
was  non-sectarianism.  In  this  neutrality  some  saw  the  settle- 
ment shorn  of  its  real  strength,  and  so  with  the  "revolution  of 
religion"  to  the  individual  came  the  religious  social  settlement. 
But  religion  in  the  settlement  is  generally  emaciated.  Most 
settlements  now  hold  no  formal  religious  exercises,  but  coopera- 
tion with  the  churches  for  social  betterment  was  never  so  good 
as  to-day.  If  the  settlement,  however,  refuses  to  be  swallowed 
up  by  its  social  work,  and  is  not  to  resign  the  culture  of  the  in- 
dividual, there  must  come,  as  a  more  homogeneous  population 
arises,  a  resurgence  of  the  religious  element. 


2H 


EFFORTS    TO    PROMOTE    TEMPERANCE 

Rev.  Clarence  Howard  Barber 
Congregational  Church,  Danielson,  Conn. 

It  is  possible  that  there  are  men  in  this  twentieth  century 
who  are  saying,  "What  is  the  cause  that  the  former  days  were 
better  than  these?"  Perhaps  they  agree  with  the  sentiment 
expressed  by  that  ancient  writer  who  said,  "Our  fathers  were 
worse  than  our  grandfathers,  we  are  worse  than  our  fathers, 
and  our  children  will  be  worse  than  we."  If  there  are  any  of 
that  class,  they  ought  to  lay  aside  their  theories,  face  the  facts, 
and  see  the  wonderful  progress  which  has  been  made  here  in 
America  in  the  last  three  quarters  of  a  century,  not  only  in  sci- 
ence, art,  and  invention,  but  also  in  missionary  and  philanthropic 
effort,  and  along  the  lines  of  temperance  and  moral  reform. 

It  is  hard  for  us  to  comprehend  the  conditions  which  prevailed 
in  regard  to  temperance  seventy-five  or  one  hundred  years  ago; 
and  if  we  were  to  go  back  to  an  earlier  period,  we  should  find 
that  the  conditions  then  were  even  worse.  At  an  ordination 
in  Hartford  in  1784  one  of  the  tavern-keepers  presented  his 
^'ordination  bill"  for  "keeping  the  ministers."  Among  other 
items  were  charges  for  "  2  mugs  tody,  i  pint  wine,  18  boles  punch, 
II  bottles  wine,  5  mugs  flip,  3  boles  tody,  and  24  dinners." 
It  is  a  significant  fact  that  the  charge  for  the  "  18  boles  of  punch" 
was  just  equal  to  the  charge  for  the  "24  dinners." 

Dr.  John  Marsh  is  authority  for  the  statement  that  in  Con- 
necticut, and  throughout  New  England  in  the  early  part  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  the  practice  of  serving  intoxicating  liquors 
at  weddings  and  funerals,  at  ordinations  and  associations,  at 
ministerial  calls,  and  at  gatherings  of  ministers  and  representa- 
tives of  the  churches,  was  almost  universal.  It  was  considered 
a  luxury,  a  necessity,  a  universal  panacea.  The  result  was 
that  "sottishness  and  drunkenness  marked  every  village;  the 
high-minded  lawyer,  the  able  physician,  the  eloquent  preacher, 
were  found  filling  the  drunkard's  grave." 

466 


EFFORTS   TO    PROMOTE   TEMPERANCE      467 

Dr.  Leonard  Woods,  who  was  a  prof essor  at  Andover  Seminary 
for  nearly  forty  years,  and  who  died  in  1854,  said,  "I  remember 
when  I  could  number  up  among  my  acquaintances  forty  ministers 
who  were  either  drunkards  or  immoderate  drinkers."  At  an 
ordination  which  he  attended  in  1814  "two  of  the  ministers  were 
drunk,  and  a  third  was  indecently  excited."  Another  testified, 
"A  great  many  deacons  died  drunkards  in  those  days;  I  have 
a  list  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-three  intemperate  deacons  in 
Massachusetts." 

Dr.  Lyman  Beecher  was  installed  at  Litchfield  in  1810.  He 
says  of  an  ordination  which  occurred  at  Plymouth  soon  after, 
"The  preparation  for  our  creature  comforts,  besides  food,  was 
a  broad  sideboard  covered  with  decanters  and  bottles  and  sugar 
and  pitchers  of  water.  There  we  found  all  kinds  of  liquor  then 
in  vogue.  The  drinking  was  apparently  universal.  This  prep- 
aration was  made  by  the  society  as  a  matter  of  course.  When 
the  consociation  arrived,  they  always  took  something  to  drink 
round,  and  also  before  the  public  services,  and  always  on  the 
return.  The  noise  I  cannot  describe;  it  was  the  maximum  of 
hilarity."  He  describes  another  similar  ordination,  and  then 
he  says,  "I  took  an  oath  before  God  that  I  would  never  attend 
another  ordination  of  that  kind.  My  heart  kindles  at  the  thought 
of  it  now."  The  next  year  a  committee  that  had  been  appointed 
by  the  Litchfield  South  Association  to  inquire  into  the  growing 
evil  and  report  a  remedy,  said  that  intemperance  had  for  some 
time  been  increasing  in  the  most  alarming  manner,  but  that  they 
were  obliged  to  confess  that  they  did  not  perceive  that  anything 
could  be  done.  In  an  instant  Dr.  Beecher  was  on  his  feet, 
and  moved  the  discharge  of  the  committee  and  the  appointment 
of  a  new  one.  The  next  day  this  committee,  of  which  he  was 
chairman,  brought  in  a  report  of  which  he  himself  said,  "It 
was  the  most  important  paper  I  ever  wrote."  The  report 
recommended  that  all  ministers  preach  on  the  sin  of  intemper- 
ance, that  church-members  abstain  from  selling  and  drinking, 
that  parents  exclude  ardent  spirits  from  their  families,  that 
temperance  literature  be  prepared  and  circulated,  and  that 
voluntary  associations  be  organized.  But  the  evil  still  continued, 
even  among  church-members;  and,  as  late  as  1825,  when  Dr. 
Leonard  Bacon  was  installed  over  the  First  Church  of  New 
Haven,  "  free  drinks  were  furnished  at  an  adjacent  bar  to  all 


468  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

who  chose  to  order  them,  and  were  settled  for  by  the  generous 
and  hospitable  society." 

In  1829  "The  Connecticut  State  Temperance  Society"  was 
organized  at  Hartford.  Rev.  Jeremiah  Day,  President  of  Yale 
College,  was  elected  president,  Rev.  Calvin  Chapin  was  chairman 
of  its  executive  committee,  and  Rev.  John  Marsh  secretary. 
The  report  of  the  secretary,  given  at  the  annual  meeting  in  1830, 
showed  that,  in  addition  to  the  large  annual  importation  of  rum 
from  the  West  Indies,  there  were  in  the  state  two  rum  distilleries 
and  ten  whisky  and  rum  distilleries,  all  doing  a  large  business,  and 
three  hundred  smaller  distilleries,  chiefly  of  cider.  There  were 
ten  hundred  and  twenty-six  licensed  retailers  and  four  hundred 
licensed  taverners.  A  population  of  275,248  consumed  annually, 
in  addition  to  an  untold  amount  of  cider  and  wine,  1,238,616 
gallons  of  spirituous  liquors.  Every  twenty-fifth  family  in 
the  state  was  engaged  in  supplying  the  rest  with  intoxicating 
drinks.  As  a  result  there  were  sixty-eight  hundred  and 
eighty-one  common  drunkards  in  the  state.  In  nine  parishes 
in  Hartford  County  there  were  found  by  actual  visitation  five 
hundred  and  ninety-four  drunkards,  giving  two  thousand  to  the 
county.  The  Governor,  the  members  of  the  Legislature,  many 
of  the  ministers  of  the  state,  and  leading  citizens  of  New  Haven 
were  present  and  heard  this  report.  It  was  then  sent  through 
the  country  and  made  a  deep  impression. 

Between  1825  and  1835  a  multitude  of  state  and  local  temper- 
ance societies  appeared  in  all  parts  of  the  country ;  and,  as  early 
as  1 83 1,  the  Pennsylvania  State  Society  adopted  and  recom- 
mended total  abstinence  from  all  intoxicating  liquors,  including 
wine  and  cider.  Similar  action  was  quickly  taken  by  many 
other  societies.  By  the  close  of  the  year  1832  there  were  state 
temperance  societies  in  twenty-one  states,  and  the  list  of  auxili- 
aries numbered  nearly  three  thousand.  In  1833  a  temperance 
convention  met  in  Philadelphia  with  four  hundred  delegates  in 
attendance  from  twenty-one  states.  This  convention  organized 
a  "Temperance  Union"  for  the  whole  country.  The  next 
meeting  of  the  American  Temperance  Union  was  a  convention 
held  at  Saratoga  in  August,  1836,  attended  by  three  hundred  and 
fifty  delegates.  This  national  convention  put  itself  squarely 
on  the  platform  of  total  abstinence  from  all  intoxicating  liquors, 
and  from  this  time  the  movement  for  total  abstinence  went  for- 


EFFORTS   TO    PROMOTE   TEMPERANCE      469 

ward  very  rapidly.  In  1830  there  were  not  far  from  one  thou- 
sand cider-mills  in  Connecticut ;  but  the  report  of  the  American 
Temperance  Union  in  1841  says,  "The  cider-mill  has  vanished 
from  the  premises  of  almost  every  reputable  New  England 
farmer,  and  the  choicest  wines  are,  by  thousands  and  tens  of 
thousands  who  once  delighted  in  them,  now  classed  with  'the 
drink  of  the  drunkard.'  "  In  1843,  only  seven  years  after  the 
adoption  of  total  abstinence  by  the  Saratoga  Convention,  it  was 
estimated  that  there  were  not  less  than  four  million  total  ab- 
stainers in  the  United  States. 

In  1840  six  men  in  Baltimore,  who  were  organized  into  a  club 
for  "Social  Tippling,"  reorganized  their  club  into  the  "Washing- 
ton Society,"  and  took  the  pledge  of  total  abstinence.  "The 
Washingtonian  Movement,"  as  it  was  called,  spread  with  won- 
derful rapidity,  and  within  five  years  about  half  a  million  of 
drunkards  had  taken  the  pledge  of  total  abstinence.  The  fact 
that  many,  perhaps  the  majority,  of  these  afterward  went  back 
to  their  cups,  caused  thoughtful  men  to  see  that  temperance  work, 
to  be  successful,  must  be  carried  on  by  saving  men  from  ever 
becoming  drunkards,  and  by  enacting  laws  which  would  remove 
temptation  out  of  the  pathway  of  those  who  had  already  fallen, 
or  who  were  in  special  danger. 

The  result  has  been,  on  the  one  hand,  the  enactment  of  "Li- 
cense," "Local  Option,"  and  "Prohibitory"  laws;  and,  on  the 
other,  the  education  of  public  sentiment,  the  circulation  of 
temperance  pledges,  and  the  introduction  of  scientific  temperance 
instruction  into  the  public  schools.  Since  the  year  1882  nearly 
every  state  in  the  Union  has  put  upon  its  statute-books  a  law 
compelling  the  teachers  in  its  public  schools  to  give  the  pupils 
instruction  upon  the  effects  of  alcoholic  drinks  and  narcotics 
upon  the  human  system.  Not  only  are  churches,  temperance 
organizations  and  temperance  workers  securing  pledges  against 
the  use  of  strong  drink,  but  many  of  the  railway  companies, 
large  manufacturing  concerns,  and  labor  organizations  are  doing 
the  same  thing.  On  New  Year's  Day,  1908,  a  temperance  pledge 
signed  by  twenty-five  thousand  employees  on  one  of  the  great 
railway  systems  of  this  country  was  handed  to  the  officers  of 
that  company. 

Perhaps  the  most  conclusive  evidences  of  progress  are  to  be 
seen  in  the  temperance  legislation  of  recent  years.     In    1842 


470  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

every  restrictive  law  on  the  statute-books  of  Connecticut  was 
wiped  out,  and  the  future  control  of  the  traffic  was  left  to  moral 
suasion.  The  results  proved  conclusively  that  the  action  taken 
was  a  mistake.  Twelve  years  later  the  state  swung  to  the  other 
extreme  and  enacted  a  state  prohibitory  law.  For  a  time  the 
law  worked  admirably,  and  within  a  year  from  the  time  of  its 
enactment  the  Governor  of  the  State  testified  that  "drunkards 
were  no  longer  seen  on  the  streets,  that  crime  had  been  materially 
diminished,  that  hundreds  of  families  which  had  been  great 
sufferers  had  been  comfortably  supplied,  that  public  security 
had  greatly  increased,  and  that  opposition  to  the  law  was 
scarcely  heard  of."  The  next  year  in  his  message  to  the  legis- 
lature the  Governor  said,  "There  is  scarcely  an  open  grog-shop 
in  the  state,  the  jails  are  fast  becoming  tenantless,  and  a  delight- 
ful air  of  security  is  everywhere  enjoyed."  The  same  year 
Dr.  Bacon  of  New  Haven  said,  "Never  for  twenty  years  has  our 
city  been  so  quiet  as  under  its  action."  This  law  was  repealed 
in  1873,  and  since  that  time  the  state  has  had  local  option,  under 
which  each  city  and  town  decides  whether  it  will  license  certain 
places  for  the  sale  of  liquor,  or  will  exclude  it  altogether.  Many 
of  the  states  have  had  an  experience  very  similar  to  that  of 
Connecticut.  Prohibitory  laws  have  been  enacted,  and  for  a 
time  enforced,  then  allowed  to  become  largely  a  dead  letter  and 
repealed. 

Within  the  past  five  years  there  has  been  an  enormous  reduc- 
tion in  the  number  of  saloons,  and  in  the  last  two  years  a  large 
decrease  in  the  amount  of  liquor  manufactured  and  sold  in  the 
United  States.  Under  the  prohibitory  and  local-option  laws 
the  saloon  has  now  been  banished  from  more  than  half  the  terri- 
tory of  the  United  States,  and  nearly  forty  million  of  its  people 
are  now  living  in  territory  freed  from  the  curse  of  the  saloon. 
The  year  1908  witnessed  the  closing  of  more  than  ten  thousand 
saloons  by  popular  vote  under  prohibition  or  local  option. 
Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  have  at  the  present  time  the 
largest  number  of  towns  and  cities  under  "no  license"  since  the 
adoption  of  the  system  of  local  option,  and  the  facts  and  figures 
prove  conclusively  that  under  "no  license,"  even  in  the  larger 
cities,  there  is  a  vast  decrease  in  drunkenness  and  crime.  The 
year  1908  witnessed  the  closing  of  more  than  fifteen  hundred 
saloons  in  Illinois,  more  than  six  hundred  in  Indiana,  and  over 


EFFORTS   TO    PROMOTE   TEMPERANCE      471 

two  thousand  in  Ohio,  all  under  local  option.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  year  1909  eight  states  are  under  state  prohibi- 
tion; namely,  Maine,  North  Dakota,  Kansas,  Oklahoma,  Mis- 
sissippi, Alabama,  Georgia,  and  North  Carolina.  Since  Jan. 
I,  1909,  Tennessee  has  enacted  a  law  prohibiting  the  sale  of 
liquor  "within  four  miles  of  a  schoolhouse,"  and  forbidding  its 
manufacture  in  the  state  after  Jan.  i,  1910. 

The  figures  of  the  Internal  Revenue  Department  for  the  year 
closing  June  30,  1908,  showed  a  decrease  in  the  amount  re- 
ceived for  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  liquor  amounting  to  more 
than  $150,000,000.  For  the  first  four  months  of  1908  the 
states  of  Maryland,  Kentucky,  and  Pennsylvania  produced 
1,000,000  gallons  less  whisky  than  in  the  corresponding  months 
of  the  previous  year.  In  Kentucky,  where  more  than 
$150,000,000  is  invested  in  distilleries,  the  business  has  been 
seriously  crippled  by  the  voting  out  of  the  saloons,  and  the 
Jailers'  State  Association  has  just  petitioned  the  Legislature  for 
regular  salaries,  because  under  the  present  conditions  the  jails 
do  not  bring  them  fees  enough  for  living  expenses.  Nearly  every 
state  in  the  Union  has  shown  decided  advance  along  temperance 
lines  in  the  past  three  years,  either  in  legislation,  or  in  the  de- 
crease of  drunkenness  and  crime,  or  in  the  numbers  pledged  to 
total  abstinence.  Some  of  the  most  prominent  public  officials, 
leaders  in  educational  work,  and  champions  of  the  labor-move- 
ment, have  recently  publicly  declared  themselves  on  the  side  of 
temperance  and  in  opposition  to  the  saloon.  The  churches, 
Protestant  and  Catholic  alike,  are  almost  a  unit  against  the 
traffic ;  and,  wonderful  as  has  been  the  progress  in  the  past  few 
years,  the  friends  of  temperance  look  for  still  greater  victories 
in  the  immediate  future. 

"  He  has  sounded  forth  the  trumpet 
That  shall  never  call  retreat. 
He  is  sifting  out  the  souls  of  men 
Before  His  judgment  seat. 
O,  be  swift  my  soul  to  answer  Him, 
Be  jubilant,  my  feet, 
For  God  is  marching  on." 


THE   BETTERMENT   OF   FAMILY  LIFE   IN 
AMERICA 

Rev.  Samuel  Warren  Dike,  LL.D. 

AUBURNDALE,    MaSS. 

Connecticut  men  have  led  in  this  movement.  Benjamin 
Trumbull,  nearly  a  century  and  a  quarter  ago,  and  the  first 
President  Dwight,  were  pioneers.  Woolsey,  Leonard  Bacon, 
Leonard  Woolsey  Bacon,  and  Horace  Bushnell,  not  to  name 
the  living,  were  leaders  in  their  day.  It  would  be  difficult  to 
name  as  many  others  from  the  entire  country  who  showed  a 
conspicuous  interest  in  problems  of  the  Family  prior  to  1880. 
Probably  no  theological  seminary  in  the  country  is  at  present 
doing  so  much  in  the  way  of  instruction  upon  the  place  of  the 
Family  in  society  and  the  work  of  the  church  as  Hartford  has 
been  doing  for  a  score  of  years  under  Professor  Merriam. 

The  special  task  before  me  is  to  point  to  some  of  the  particulars 
in  which  the  present  situation  regarding  the  Family  differs  from 
that  of  seventy-five  years  ago.  I  should  say  in  general  that  the 
present  is  a  period  of  conscious  effort  to  improve  society  as  so- 
ciety, and  therefore  of  necessity  the  Family  has  been  brought 
to  the  front  in  most  efforts  at  social  improvement.  Home  mis- 
sionary work,  Sunday-schools,  revivals,  and  the  early  stages 
of  the  temperance  movement,  were  the  chief  reformatory  efforts 
of  the  first  third  of  the  nineteenth  century  that  affected  American 
life  as  a  whole,  the  anti-slavery  efforts,  then  just  beginning, 
being  directed  to  a  section  of  the  country  rather  than  to  the  whole 
people.  All  these  appealed  to  people  as  individuals  rather 
than  as  members  of  society. 

The  most  fundamental  and  far-reaching  change  regarding  the 
Family  in  the  last  seventy-five  years  has  been  the  return  to  nature 
under  the  leadership  of  Horace  Bushnell,  the  distinguished  min- 
ister and  citizen  of  Hartford.  His  Christian  Nurture  created 
an  epoch  on  this  subject.  The  immediate  object  of  Bushnell 
was  religious,  in  that  he  directed  his  criticism  against  the  extreme 
individualism  of  his  times,  when  theories  concerning  the  entrance 

472 


BETTERMENT  OF  FAMILY  LIFE  IN  AMERICA      473 

upon  a  religious  life  were  such  that  effort  at  conversion  was  put 
forth  and  was  concentrated  largely  on  the  adult,  as  the  only  one 
who  could  easily  be  brought  under  the  system  in  vogue.  He 
did  his  work  by  showing  that  the  method  was  unnatural,  that 
it  was  the  method  of  the  ostrich,  which  leaves  its  offspring  to 
the  chances  of  the  hot  sand,  and  that  it  forgot  the  organic  nature 
of  the  Family  through  which  the  entire  life  of  the  Home  should 
be  brought  to  bear  on  the  child. 

His  book  is  shot  through  and  through  with  this  appeal  to  the 
very  nature  of  society.  So  true  is  his  insight  that,  though  he 
shows  no  knowledge  of  the  new  science  which  sixty  years  ago 
had  scarcely  a  name,  yet  the  sociologist  reads  him  with  delight, 
finding  his  position  in  close  accord  with  the  teachings  of  Social 
Science.  Like  all  such  departures  from  the  superficialities  of 
tradition,  this  view  met  with  opposition.  The  conception  of  the 
Family  and  of  Society  too,  as  in  its  way,  though  not  in  the  way 
of  dead  matter,  or  even  of  mere  biological  existence,  but  in  a 
spiritual,  moral,  organic  way,  is  probably  now  accepted  as  a  fun- 
damental concept  by  most  thinkers  on  social  questions.  Its 
practical  value  is,  of  course,  but  partially  seen.  All  this  is  far 
removed  from  the  intensely  concentrated  individualism  of  the 
hundred  years  and  more  of  the  preceding  religious  life  of  the 
country,  especially  of  New  England.  We  may  say  all  this, 
and  yet  not  do  injustice  to  the  power  and  blessings  conferred 
on  society  by  the  older  view. 

A  second  change  in  regard  to  the  treatment  of  the  Family 
has  been  the  resort  to  the  scientific  method.  This  probably 
did  not  grow  out  of  Bushnell's  course;  but  science  and  Bushnell 
are  both  of  close  kinship,  because  both  fall  back  on  nature  for 
their  data.  He  saw  nature  and  to  a  degree  treated  it  scientifi- 
cally, yet  he  was  a  prophet,  close  of  kin  to  the  man  of  science, 
but  not  in  his  class.  The  patient  collection  of  facts,  their  analy- 
sis and  comparison,  their  relation  to  other  social  institutions  and 
their  functions,  so  far  as  regards  the  Family  and  its  problems, 
has  been  the  work  of  other  men  and  falls  within  the  period  under 
consideration.  Of  statistics  on  marriage  and  divorce  in  1834 
there  were  practically  none  anywhere.  Since  then  Woolsey's 
beginnings  in  his  able  book  on  divorce,  the  great  United  States 
Report  of  1889,  and  its  still  greater  successor  of  1908  have  put  us 
in  possession  of  the  statistics  and  the  laws  of  this  and  other 


474  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

countries  and  their  changes  during  the  last  forty  years.  The 
related  subjects  of  marriage,  divorce,  chastity,  and  children  are 
beginning  to  be  studied  together  and  as  parts  of  one  common 
problem  of  the  Family,  instead  of  separately,  as  in  earlier  periods. 
Beyond  this,  their  study  is  made  a  part  of  a  systematic  treatment 
of  the  entire  social  order.  It  may  safely  be  said  that  students 
of  Social  Science  have  come,  within  the  present  generation,  to  see 
that  the  study  of  the  Family  is  as  essential  to  a  knowledge  of 
Social  Science  as  the  study  of  the  cell  is  to  the  biological  sciences. 
It  is  true  that  research-work  on  the  Family  and  the  home  as 
practical  problems  has  not  yet  attained  anything  like  the  pro- 
portions that  research  into  the  history  of  domestic  institutions 
has  gained,  but  it  is  growing. 

Thirdly,  the  place  of  the  Home  in  the  practical  work  of  the 
Church  and  of  Society  generally  is  receiving  renewed  attention, 
but  in  a  different  way.  Relatively  the  Home  received  more 
attention  at  the  hands  of  the  Church  in  the  first  third  of  the  last 
century  than  it  does  to-day,  for  then  the  Sunday-school  was  in 
its  infancy,  and  the  societies  for  young  people  were  unknown. 
The  Home  was  of  necessity  looked  to  for  religious  training. 
To-day  the  Home  shares  the  care  of  the  young  with  these  and 
other  institutions  in  a  way  it  did  not  seventy-five  years  ago. 
A  search  through  the  bibliography  of  the  religious  treatment  of 
the  Family  shows  more  titles  of  books,  addresses,  and  sermons 
on  the  Home  of  dates  prior  to  1834  than  can  be  found  since. 
The  Home  is  probably  aimed  at  quite  as  much  to-day  as  it  was 
then.  But  the  method  now  is  more  indirect,  for  the  aim  now 
is  to  reach  the  Home  through  the  Sunday-school  and  other  or- 
ganizations. Religious  work  is  done  for  the  Home  rather  than 
through  it.  The  natural  work  of  the  Home  is  now  turned  over 
more  than  formerly  to  the  Sunday-school  and  Young  People's 
Societies.  The  Church  is  less  inclined  to  put  its  hand  directly 
on  the  Home  itself  and  arouse  it  to  its  own  work.  That  there 
is  still  much  religious  training  in  the  Home  is  true  —  it  may 
even  be  granted  that  there  is  more  than  formerly  —  but  that 
does  not  meet  the  issue;  for  the  question  is.  Does  the  Home 
do  its  own  share  of  the  work?  Has  it  had  the  attention  it  deserves, 
its  due  proportion  as  compared  with  other  agencies  for  training 
the  young  ?  To  this  question  a  negative  answer  must  be  given. 
Atrophy  threatens  the  Home. 


BETTERMENT  OF  FAMILY  LIFE  IN  AMERICA    475 

The  Home  Department  of  the  Sunday-school,  an  institution 
of  the  last  quarter  of  a  century,  is  a  most  significant  step  in  the 
right  direction  —  not  only  for  the  half-million  members  it  already 
has,  but  for  its  fundamental  principle  of  using  the  Home  itself 
for  organized  Bible-study.  It  is  significant  as  the  first  device 
of  special  importance  for  the  religious  use  of  the  Home  that  the 
Church  has  found  in  the  last  hundred  years,  and  for  its  prophetic 
indication  of  further  effort  in  the  same  direction. 

The  briefest  reference  only  can  be  made  to  the  growing  recog- 
nition of  the  Home  as  an  important  factor  in  the  problems  of 
public  education,  the  industrial  situation,  and  social  reform  in 
general.  Educators  are  now  calling  on  us  to  see  that  the 
processes  of  education  are  going  on  in  the  Home  as  well  as  in 
the  schoolroom.  The  almshouse  has  a  far  smaller  place  in 
dealing  with  poverty  than  it  had  formerly.  The  encourage- 
ment of  the  Home  to  self-help  is  made  more  of.  The  preven- 
tion of  crime  is  now  sought  in  the  Home,  as  well  as  in  other 
ways  outside  the  prison.  The  Home  and  its  work  have  be- 
come subjects  of  college  study.  The  social  settlement  attends 
to  the  Home,  and  we  are  beginning  to  see  that  the  citizen  is  made 
largely  in  the  Home. 

A  fourth  difference  in  the  situation,  and  one  that  largely 
accounts  for  the  one  just  noted,  is  due  to  the  change  in  the  organi- 
zation of  our  churches.  Early  in  the  last  century  our  local 
churches  were,  with  the  exception  of  the  Sunday-school,  without 
internal  societies  for  the  training  of  the  young.  To-day  they 
are  often  a  collection  of  several  heterogeneous  and  unrelated 
organizations  whose  aim  it  is  to  train  the  young  in  religious 
knowledge  and  for  Christian  service.  These  societies  work 
with  little  intelligent  cooperation  with  each  other  or  with  the 
church  as  a  whole.  There  is  no  well  defined  and  clearly  recog- 
nized division  of  labor  between  them.  They  rarely  know  the 
special  methods  of  home  training  that  affect  the  ideas  and  ideals 
of  the  children,  and  adjust  their  own  work  accordingly.  The 
Sunday-school,  the  Young  People's  Society  and  the  Home,  gen- 
erally work  each  in  entire  ignorance  of  what  the  other  is  doing 
and  sometimes  at  cross-purposes.  The  method  of  seventy-five 
years  ago,  with  all  its  crudities,  did  make  the  parent  feel  respon- 
sible for  the  religious  training  of  the  children.  Crude  though 
his  effort  may  have  been,  still  it  was  the  father  who  taught  the 


476  RECENT  CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

catechism  and  the  mother  who  prayed  with  the  boy,  and  parental 
influence  has  in  it  something  the  mere  teacher  does  not  have. 
What  is  needed  to-day  is  the  recovery  of  the  Home  to  its  true 
place,  whatever  that  may  be,  in  the  work  of  the  Church.  We 
shall  not  accomplish  this  until  we  shall  have  subjected  our  present 
system,  or  lack  of  system,  in  church  organization  to  a  careful 
analysis  and  a  scientific  measurement  of  respective  values,  such 
as  is  compelling  readjustments  in  our  industrial  system  and 
in  education.  The  period  of  waste  through  lack  of  system  in 
our  religious  organizations  should  be  drawing  to  an  end.  The 
time  for  reconstruction  and  readjustment  has  come,  and  the 
beginnings  of  this  work  must  be  sought  in  our  theological  semi- 
naries. 

One  other  change  should  be  noted.  It  is  seen  in  the  literature 
of  the  Family  and  its  work.  Prior  to  1834,  and  for  many  years 
afterwards,  there  were  no  books  that  professed  to  treat  the 
Family  in  a  scientific  way.  Social  Science  then  was  largely 
confined  to  Politics  and  the  Law.  Everything  written  about  the 
Family  was  along  supposed  Biblical  lines  and  under  the  limita- 
tions which  the  current  methods  of  Biblical  interpretation  im- 
posed. There  were  a  good  many  books  on  the  Family  with 
a  practical  aim,  either  sermons  or  sermonic  in  form  —  indeed, 
the  titles  in  the  bibliography  in  some  of  the  great  libraries  show 
more  books  on  subjects  connected  with  the  Family  for  the  sev- 
enty-five years  before  1834  than  they  do  for  the  period  since  — 
but  the  warp  of  the  treatment  of  this  earlier  literature  was  the 
theology  of  the  times,  and  its  woof  was  made  up  of  traditional 
material.  Even  the  burning  question  of  infant-baptism  was 
made  with  comparative  infrequency  to  turn  on  the  nature  of  the 
Family.  Individualism  held  both  parties  to  a  discussion  nearly 
alike  in  its  toils.  So  far  as  I  have  seen,  not  a  popular  book  on 
religion  in  the  Family  prior  to  Bushnell's  Christian  Nurture 
can  be  read  to-day  by  the  intelligent  Christian  with  much  satis- 
faction. We  have  discarded  the  old,  while  there  is  very  little 
yet  to  take  its  place.  The  Church  needs  for  its  immediate  use 
books  and  leaflets  on  the  religious  uses  of  the  Home,  that  are  at 
once  scientifically  sound,  as  the  literature  in  the  scientific  field 
can  now  easily  make  them,  and  written  in  good  literary  style, 
so  as  to  command  the  respect  of  intelligent  people. 


ABATEMENT   OF   THE   SOCIAL   EVIL 

Rev.  Edmund  Alden  Burnham,  D.D. 
Plymouth  Congregational  Church,  Syracuse,  N.Y. 

An  historical  sketch  of  the  social  evil  that  seeks  to  record 
progress  in  checking  the  advance  of  the  "great  black  plague"  in 
America  during  the  last  seventy-five  years  is  impossible,  because 
the  social  evil  seems  to  have  enlarged  itself  rather  than  to  have 
decreased.  It  will,  however,  be  possible  to  picture  much  ac- 
tivity against  the  scourge. 

The  opinion  of  many  who  are  competent  to  speak  is  almost 
unanimous  in  the  idea  expressed  by  the  following  extract  from 
the  letter  of  a  practicing  physician  in  a  suburb  of  Boston,  Mass. : 
"  My  opinion,  in  fact,  is  not  just  formed,  but  merely  strengthened 
by  my  talks  with  older  practitioners.  That  things  are  increasing 
in  the  line  of  the  social  evil,  is  the  opinion  of  nearly  all.  .  .  . 
My  own  clinical  experience  has  shown  me  that  youth  is  more 
advanced  in  the  wrong  direction  than  it  was  twenty  years  ago." 

Evidence  of  direct  effort  on  the  part  of  the  Church  as  an  in- 
stitution against  this  thing  is  hard  to  find.  The  Catholic  Church, 
through  its  priesthood,  has  given  some  counsel  and  instruction 
in  its  sodalities,  classes  of  girls  and  women,  and  at  times  of 
"retreat."  The  Protestant  Church  seems  to  have  given  little 
or  nothing  of  such  specific  warning  or  instruction.  However, 
countless  persons  from  the  Protestant  Church,  and  the  Catholic 
also,  have,  both  as  individuals  and  as  members  of  societies, 
maintained  noble  works  of  rescue,  and  have  sought  to  formulate 
plans  for  the  prevention  of  the  spread  of  this  curse. 

The  greatest  activity  at  present  against  the  social  evil  is  directed 
against  it  on  the  physical  side  by  the  medical  profession.  The 
social  evil  has  a  physical  as  well  as  a  moral  aspect.  It  is  at 
the  same  time  in  a  unique  way  a  disease  and  a  sin.  It  is  par- 
ticularly a  social  evil  too,  for  it  necessitates  more  than  a  single 
individual  for  its  perpetration,  and  brings  danger  to  more  than 
two  in  its  results.     Illicit  intercourse  between  the  sexes,  with  its 

477 


478  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

fearful  moral  and  physical  results,  seems  to  the  writer  to  out- 
rank tuberculosis  in  peril,  both  because  of  its  immoral  aspect, 
and  because  of  its  vastly  greater  physical  extent.  Moreover,  it  is 
deadly  for  the  innocent,  and  brings  blight  on  the  whole  life  of  the 
child,  born  or  unborn.  It  is  "a  vast  venereal  peril  which  so 
seriously  menaces  the  public  health,  and  which,  with  alcohol  and 
tuberculosis,  constitutes  one  of  the  three  great  plagues  that  afflict 
humanity." 

I.  The  Fearfulness  of  the  Social  Evil.  —  Outside  of  the  medical 
profession  very  few  appreciate  the  awfulness  of  the  physical 
aspect  of  this  sin.  For  the  body  it  almost  invariably  means 
loathsome  disease,  and  often  horrid  death,  since  fully  ninety- 
five  per  cent,  of  prostitutes  are  diseased.  The  immediate  dis- 
eases it  may  induce  are  syphilis,  gonorrhoea,  and  chancroid. 
These  are  separate  and  distinct.  Each  works  its  own  kind  of 
havoc.  The  worst  feature  about  the  first  two  is  that  their  blows 
fall  most  heavily  on  the  innocent,  i.e.,  on  the  unoffending  wife 
and  the  pure  child.  They  can  affect,  and  do  endanger,  every 
one  "from  the  unborn  babe  to  its  grandmother."  It  is  stated 
on  unquestionable  authority  that  there  are  more  innocent 
wives  treated  for  venereal  disease  to-day,  through  no  fault  of 
their  own,  than  prostitutes  that  are  treated.  Syphilis  is  a  most 
highly  infectious  disease.  It  is  obtainable  by  a  kiss,  from  towels, 
bed-linen,  drinking-cups,  a  wetted  lead-pencil,  or  any  innocent 
medium  which  has  come  in  contact  with  the  mucous  patches  or 
sores  of  a  diseased  person.  The  virus  of  gonorrhoea  is  equally 
infectious.  Thus  not  merely  does  illicit  intercourse  breed  the 
disease,  but  the  nurse,  wife,  or  child  in  the  home  may  be  infected. 
In  a  case  that  is  cited  a  syphilitic  nursling  infected  twenty-three 
persons,  mainly  through  its  nurse.  For  three  years  or  more, 
sometimes  for  five,  or  even  in  rare  cases  twelve,  or  until  cured, 
the  afflicted  person  is  a  source  of  danger.  In  the  male  the  dis- 
ease affects  all  parts  of  the  body,  including  the  bones,  nerves, 
brain,  and  spinal  cord.  Even  with  a  cure,  after-effects  cannot 
be  guarded  against.  These  may  involve,  in  addition  to  the  fore- 
going, the  liver,  the  heart,  and  the  arterial  system.  Much  in- 
sanity may  be  traced  to  it,  and  ninety  per  cent,  of  locomotor 
ataxia  is  due  to  it.  For  the  innocent  wife  syphilis  means  all 
that  has  been  named  for  the  man,  and  in  addition  monstrosities 
in  children,  many  of  which  come  into  the  world  dead.     Forty- 


ABATEMENT    OF   THE   SOCIAL   EVIL         479 

two  per  cent,  of  abortions  and  miscarriages  are  due  to  it.  For 
the  offspring  it  is  most  deadly.  "The  mortality  of  infants  born 
of  syphilitic  mothers  runs  from  sixty  per  cent,  in  private  practice 
to  more  than  eighty  per  cent,  in  hospital  practice."  Moreover, 
syphilis  is  transmitted,  almost  invariably,  to  the  third  generation, 
producing  again  children  of  unfit  heritage. 

Gonorrhoea  does  its  most  deadly  work  on  the  innocent  wife. 
If  she  gives  birth  to  a  child,  it  will  probably  be  her  only  one,  for, 
owing  to  inflammations,  she  will  become  sterile.  Indeed,  she  is 
fortunate  if  she  escapes  the  surgeon's  knife  or  does  not  lose  her 
life.  Neisser  regards  this  disease  as  the  cause  of  forty-five  per 
cent,  of  wholly  childless  marriages.  Nearly  thirty  per  cent,  of  all 
venereal  diseases  occurring  in  private  practice  in  New  York 
City,  and  seventy  per  cent,  of  all  women  who  came  to  the  New 
York  Hospital,  during  a  certain  period,  were  "respectable 
married  women  who  had  been  infected  by  their  husbands." 
"All  physicians  are  agreed  that  over  fifty  per  cent,  of  abdominal 
operations  on  women,  and  some  observers  place  it  over  ninety 
per  cent.,  are  necessitated  by  this  infection."  For  the  man  steril- 
ity is  also  the  great  risk  and,  besides  this,  it  is  very  difficult  to 
know  when,  if  ever,  the  disease  is  cured.  It  invades  the  depths  of 
his  system,  and  may,  escaping  the  most  thorough  medication,  lie 
dormant  for  a  long  time  and  break  out  after  ten,  or  even  twenty, 
years,  to  smite  long  after  it  has  been  forgotten.  About  three 
per  cent,  of  the  cases  have  been  found  to  be  incurable.  Eighty 
per  cent,  of  the  blindness  of  the  new-born  is  caused  by  gonorrhoea. 
In  1890  there  were  50,411  persons  in  this  country  blind  in  both 
eyes.  Out  of  68,000  blind  persons,  15,000  innocent  children 
lost  their  sight  through  this  infection,  and  from  fifteen  per  cent, 
to  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  all  blindness  is  due  to  this  same  cause. 

Black  as  is  its  physical  aspect,  it  must  be  clear  that  the  moral 
aspect  of  the  social  evil  is  blacker.  There  is  in  it  not  only  sin 
against  those  who  should  be  dear,  and  against  God's  explicit 
command,  but  also  against  the  very  purpose  of  the  Maker, 
who  placed  men  in  families  to  people  the  earth.  It  drags  the 
marriage-relation  in  filthy  mire.  It  lowers  unspeakably  the 
ideal  of  manhood  and  of  womanhood.  It  stultifies  the  conscience 
and  threatens  to  snuff  out  the  moral  sense  entirely.  It  also 
loads  the  spirit  with  such  a  weight  of  guilt  that  it  can  scarcely 
look  up  to  God  or  hear  His  call. 


48o  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

The  extent  of  the  social  evil  in  our  country  is  great.  "It 
would  be  a  conservative  estimate  to  say  that  the  morbidity  from 
both  these  diseases  represents  sixty  per  cent,  of  the  adult  male 
population.  Each  year  over  450,000  young  men  become  in- 
fected with  venereal  disease;  twenty  per  cent,  before  their 
twenty-first  year,  over  sixty  per  cent,  before  their  twenty-fifth 
year,  more  than  eighty  per  cent,  before  they  pass  their  thirtieth 
year.  Each  succeeding  group  which  passes  the  sixteenth  year 
furnishes  its  quota  of  victims,  so  that  the  total  morbidity  from  this 
constantly  cumulative  growth  forms  an  immense  aggregation." 

2.  Past  Dealing  with  the  Social  Evil.  —  Attempts  to  stem  the 
tide  by  legislation  have  been  many.  Plans  for  governmental 
reglementation  have  been  tried  or  are  still  in  force  in  various 
places,  e.g.,  in  St.  Louis  (1872),  New  Orleans,  France,  Germany, 
Japan,  Scandinavia,  Denmark,  and  Great  Britain. 

There  is  a  growing  conviction,  however,  that  this  does  more 
harm  than  good.  In  Scandinavia,  Denmark,  and  Great  Britain 
the  laws  have  been  repealed  or  modified.  In  Denmark  and  its 
sister  nations  a  plan  of  registration  with  boards  of  health  is  in 
force.  Physicians  have  to  report  those  who  are  diseased  as  they 
do  other  contagious  diseases.  It  seems  absolutely  wicked  that 
the  "  medical  secret"  should  be  allowed  to  prevent  the  protection 
of  the  public  or,  what  is  worse,  keep  a  physician  from  preventing 
a  patient  with  uncured  venereal  disease  from  marrying  a  beauti- 
ful girl  and  ruining  her  happiness  for  life  because  he  will  not 
speak,  or  from  warning  a  wife  so  that  she  may  guard  herself 
from  an  infected  husband  and  not  add  bodily  suffering  to  agony 
of  soul.  But  it  is  true  to-day  that  the  great  majority  of  physi- 
cians believe  silence  to  be  their  duty  and  do  not  speak.  Why 
is  this  not  complicity  in  crime,  if  not  in  murder  ? 

Society  as  a  whole  has  aided,  rather  than  hindered,  this  black 
evil  because  of  its  double  standard  of  life,  which  unsparingly 
condemns  in  the  guilty  or  unfortunate  female  what  it  overlooks 
in  the  male.  It  even  goes  further  and  permits  the  man  to  become 
a  member  of  its  best  families  and  to  possess  himself  of  one  of 
the  sweetest  daughters  in  the  land,  and  dances  at  the  wedding. 

It  is  only  since  1879  that  the  bacilli  of  venereal  diseases  have 
been  recognized.  In  that  year  Neisser  discovered  the  gonococ- 
cus,  the  germ  of  gonorrhoea.  It  was  not,  however,  until  within 
about  five  years  that  the  active  principle  of  syphilis  was  dis- 


ABATEMENT    OF   THE   SOCIAL   EVIL         481 

covered  in  the  spirochceta  pallidum.  This  was  announced  by 
Schaudinn  and  Hoffman,  confirmed  by  Metchnikoflf,  and  also 
by  Simon  Flexner.  This  new  knowledge  has  made  great 
strides  of  advance  possible  in  treating  the  diseases,  recog- 
nizing their  most  hidden  manifestations,  and  knowing  the  ills 
which  are  their  direct  outgrowths. 

In  recent  years  also  has  come  the  writing  of  books,  such  as 
Dr.  P.  A.  Morrow's  Social  Diseases  and  Marriage,  a  classic 
authority  as  well  as  a  pioneer  in  its  province,  and  the  formation  of 
societies,  which  contain  men  of  all  pursuits,  such  as  The  Ameri- 
can Society  of  Sanitary  and  Moral  Prophylaxis,  a  counterpart 
of  societies  in  France  and  Germany.  This  seeks  to  be  national 
in  membership  and  to  devise  and  use  every  means,  physical, 
legal,  educational,  and  moral,  for  stemming  the  flooding  tide. 
There  have  also  come  such  investigations  as  that  of  the  so-called 
"Committee  of  Fifteen."  Medical  journals  also  are  discussing 
the  problem  as  never  before.  Medical  societies  are  taking  the 
matter  up,  and  it  is  very  significant  that  they  all  are  regarding  the 
problem  as  a  moral  as  well  as  a  physical  one ;  and,  further,  that 
they  seek  the  cooperation  of  educators  and  clergymen  as  well 
as  the  enlightenment  and  cooperation  of  the  public.  College 
presidents  are  also  seeking  to  instruct  and  thus  restrain  their 
students.  There  is  an  awakening,  which  bids  fair  to  become 
general,  in  the  knowledge  of  the  great  need  for  arresting  this  pest. 
It  is  becoming  clear  that  first  steps  downward  must  be  prevented, 
as  well  as  harm  to  innocent  victims. 

There  is  also  a  clearer  understanding  of  the  tremendous  part 
that  ignorance  plays  in  this  great  social  curse.  Many  of  the 
young  go  into  this  damning  excess  with  stifled  consciences  and 
no  knowledge  of  its  physical  harm.  "The  majority  of  those 
who  contract  venereal  diseases  by  illegitimate  sexual  intercourse 
are  young.  Of  women  in  France  twenty  per  cent,  to  forty  per 
cent,  are  infected  before  they  are  nineteen,  and  among  men  fifteen 
per  cent,  of  cases  occur  between  eleven  and  twenty-one  years  of 
age.  In  Germany  Erb  finds  that  as  many  as  eighty-five  per 
cent,  of  men  with  gonorrhoea  have  contracted  the  disease  between 
the  age  of  sixteen  and  twenty-five.  The  majority  of  husbands 
who  infect  their  wives  contracted  the  disease  before  marriage." 
In  the  city  of  New  York  it  was  reported  by  a  committee  appointed 
to  investigate  the  matter  that  of  males  between  eighteen  and 
2  z 


482  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

twenty-eight  years  seventy-five  to  ninety  per  cent,  have  had  or 
now  have  gonorrhoea."  The  conviction  of  the  power  of  instruc- 
tion and  enhghtenment  to  guard  and  prevent  is  spreading,  and 
the  need  of  a  general  campaign  to  this  end  is  being  more  and 
more  acknowledged. 

3,  Conclusion.  —  The  foregoing  words  picture  something  of 
what  has  recently  been  gained  in  knowledge  concerning  the 
social  evil  —  in  all  cases  the  figures  used  have  been  the  con- 
servative ones  —  they  have  also  sought  to  speak  somewhat  of 
the  efforts  to  overcome  this  thing.  These  efforts  seem  to  be 
sure  prophecy  of  large  results  about  to  be  accomplished.  May 
the  Church,  through  her  ministers  and  membership,  be  aroused  to 
the  existence  of  this  moral  and  physical  pestilence ;  and,  becom- 
ing instructed,  help  to  enlighten  ignorance,  to  restrain  passion, 
and  to  spread  a  propaganda  of  moral  and  spiritual  prophylaxis  ! 
Thus  she  will  do  work  that  she  is  most  powerful  to  do  and  that 
can  be  done  by  no  agency  without  her  help.  She  must  labor 
early  and  late  to  bring  men  and  women  to  the  purity  of  inner 
life  and  of  body  which  comes  to  those  who  place  themselves  under 
the  command  and  leadership  of  that  one  perfectly  pure  man,  the 
holy  and  risen  Saviour  of  men. 


PENOLOGY  AND   CHILD   SAVING 

Rev.  Ernest  Royal  Latham 
Congregational  Church,  McPherson,  Kan. 

It  was  early  morning  in  the  world  of  Penology  when  Hartford 
Seminary  was  founded.  Only  half  a  century  had  passed  since 
John  Howard  had  stirred  the  civilized  world  with  his  account  of 
the  state  of  prisons  in  England  and  on  the  Continent.  Vilain 
of  Ghent,  contemporaneously  with  the  work  of  Howard,  had 
given  to  the  world  a  model  prison  conducted  upon  the  lines 
approved  by  modern  penologists.  In  our  own  country  our 
prisons  were  just  emerging  from  the  most  shameful  conditions. 
It  was  not  many  years  since  the  jails  in  the  larger  cities  were 
places  for  the  promiscuous  herding  of  all  classes  of  prisoners, 
where  every  vice  was  practised  without  restraint,  and  crime  was 
taught  without  rebuke.  It  was  only  seven  years  since  Connecti- 
cut had  given  up  the  use,  as  a  state  prison,  of  the  notorious 
copper-mine  at  Simsbury. 

In  1827  in  Boston,  an  investigation  by  the  Prison  Discipline 
Society  of  that  city  discovered  thirty  insane  people  imprisoned 
under  the  most  disgraceful  conditions  imaginable,  and  these  con- 
ditions were  not  exceptional.  Imprisonment  for  debt  was  com- 
mon. In  1833  ^t  "^^s  estimated  that  seventy-five  thousand  per- 
sons were  imprisoned  for  debt  each  year  in  the  United  States. 
Many  states  made  no  provision  for  the  religious  instruction  of 
prisoners.  In  New  Hampshire  the  state  prison  was  paying  into 
the  state  treasury  from  the  labor  of  convicts  from  one  thousand 
to  five  thousand  dollars  a  year,  and  the  state  appropriated  twenty- 
five  dollars  a  year  for  religious  work  for  the  prisoners.  Vermont 
expended  one  hundred  dollars,  and  Massachusetts  two  hundred 
dollars  a  y^ar  for  a  like  purpose. 

A  better  day  had  dawned  by  1834.  Auburn  Prison  had  begun 
its  great  career  in  1816.  The  House  of  Refuge,  on  Blackwell's 
Island,  New  York,  the  first  institution  for  juvenile  delinquents 
in  the  United  States,  was  opened  in  1825.  This  was  soon  fol- 
lowed by  similar  institutions  in  Boston  and  Philadelphia. 

483 


484  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

Connecticut's  fine  new  prison  at  Wethersfield  welcomed  the 
prisoners  from  the  Simsbury  copper-mine  in  1827;  and,  under 
the  able  management  of  the  Pilsburys,  immediately  took  front 
rank  among  the  penal  institutions  of  the  country.  In  1829 
the  Eastern  Penitentiary  of  Pennsylvania  was  opened.  By 
1830,  only  three  years  after  the  disclosure  by  the  Prison  Dis- 
cipline Society  of  the  facts  above  noted,  Massachusetts  had 
voted  thirty  thousand  dollars  for  a  hospital  for  lunatics.  A 
spirit  of  greater  humanity  was  coming  to  prevail  toward  the 
criminal  and  the  unfortunate. 

The  outlook  was,  therefore,  hopeful  in  1834.  But  the  penol- 
ogist of  to-day  who  should  find  himself  suddenly  transported  to 
those  times  would  miss  most  of  what  is  best  in  his  science.  He 
would  find  no  agreement  as  to  object  and  methods  in  dealing 
with  prisoners,  no  national  societies  for  interchange  of  ideas, 
very  little  thought  of  reformation  of  criminals,  no  reformatories, 
no  separation  of  first  offenders  from  habitual  criminals,  no  grad- 
ing of  prisoners,  very  little  effort  at  religious  instruction  or  educa- 
tion, no  indeterminate  sentence  or  parole  system,  no  system 
of  identification,  and  only  the  beginning  of  scientific  and  sym- 
pathetic study  of  the  problem. 

In  thinking  now  of  the  progress  of  seventy-five  years,  we  note 
first  of  all,  as  fundamental,  the  change  that  has  taken  place  in 
the  thought  of  men  as  to  the  object  to  be  attained  in  dealing  with 
criminals.  In  1834  retribution  and  deterrence  were  very  largely 
the  ends  aimed  at  in  prison  discipline.  To-day,  all  intelligent 
prison  men  regard  the  reformation  of  the  criminal  in  all  possible 
cases  as  the  object  sought.  With  each  decade  conviction  has 
strengthened  that  the  criminal  is  a  man,  to  be  treated  humanely, 
and,  when  possible,  to  be  prepared  for  and  restored  to  a  good 
and  useful  life.  With  this  end  in  view  the  harsh  treatment  which 
embittered  every  man  subjected  to  it  has  been  abandoned. 
Prisoners  are  better  housed  and  better  fed.  Corporal  punish- 
ment has  almost  wholly  ceased.  Religious  instruction  is  pro- 
vided. Prison  schools  have  been  established  for  the  illiterate. 
Excellent  libraries  are  furnished  for  the  use  of  the  prisoners. 
Many  other  helpful  influences  are  brought  to  bear  that  the  term 
of  imprisonment  may  prove  beneficial. 

Moreover,  it  has  been  found  that  such  treatment  alone  is  not 
sufficient.     It  has  come  to  be  recognized  that  violators  of  the 


PENOLOGY   AND    CHILD    SAVING  485 

law  differ  greatly.  There  are  men  who  have  deliberately  chosen 
a  life  of  crime,  and  there  are  those  who  in  an  unguarded  moment 
have  fallen.  There  are  habitual,  and  there  are  accidental,  crimi- 
nals. There  are  men  with  long  criminal  careers,  and  there  are 
first  offenders.  To  reform  the  habitual  criminal  is  a  difficult 
undertaking.  The  restoration  of  the  accidental  criminal,  the 
first  offender,  is  largely  a  matter  of  proper  treatment. 

The  recognition  of  these  differences  in  prisoners  and  in  the 
method  of  their  treatment  has  brought  about  one  of  the  most 
beneficent  changes  in  prison  management  which  the  world  has 
ever  known,  namely,  the  rise  of  the  reformatory  designed  for 
younger  and  non-habitual  criminals.  The  first  and  most  famous 
of  these  in  the  United  States  was  opened  at  Elmira,  New  York, 
in  1876. 

Thirteen  states  now  have  reformatories.  Into  these  in- 
stitutions only  young  men  who  are  first  offenders  are  received. 
Behind  all  the  work  undertaken  is  the  firm  faith  that  by 
scientific  study  and  proi)er  treatment  such  men  can  be  reformed, 
at  least  to  the  extent  of  causing  society  no  further  trouble.  The 
three  great  agencies  of  reform  are  labor,  education,  and  good 
morals.  Religion  is  much  to  be  desired,  but  a  good  moral 
character  meets  the  end  aimed  at.  Instead  of  being  considered 
an  exceptionally  strong  man  whose  will  is  to  be  broken,  the 
prisoner  is  looked  upon  as  a  weak  man  whose  will  is  to  be  made 
strong  by  systematic  labor  and  study,  that  he  may  choose  and 
persist  in  a  right  course.  The  object  of  labor  in  the  reformatory 
is  to  develop  the  man  and  to  teach  him  an  occupation  by  which 
he  may  earn  an  honest  living,  rather  than  to  pay  the  expenses  of 
the  institution. 

To  the  success  of  these  reformatory  methods  the  indeterminate 
sentence  and  the  parole  system  are  indispensable,  and  are  em- 
ployed in  connection  with  all  reformatories  and  with  many  old- 
line  prisons  as  well.  Under  the  indeterminate  system  the  pris- 
oner is  to  be  confined  until,  in  the  judgment  of  experts  who  have 
studied  him,  he  is  ready  for  a  correct  life.  In  practice  the  indeter- 
minate sentence  is  at  present  limited  by  minimum  and  maximum 
sentences.  The  parole  system  gives  opportunity  for  the  prisoner 
to  make  trial  of  his  ability  to  lead  an  honorable  life  outside 
of  prison  walls  before  his  complete  discharge.  The  methods 
employed  in  the  reformatories  and  in  other  modern  prisons  were 


486  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

to  a  large  extent  developed  abroad,  chiefly  by  four  men :  Captain 
Machonochie  on  Norfolk  Island,  New  South  Wales ;  Sir  Walter 
Crofton  in  Ireland;  Montesinos  in  Spain;  and  Obermaier  in 
Bavaria. 

It  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  have  trained  men  at  the  head 
of  penal  institutions.  In  no  branch  of  effort  is  expert  knowledge 
more  essential.  Seventy-five  years  ago  such  men  were  almost 
unknown.  To-day  we  are  fortunate  in  having  a  large  and  con- 
stantly increasing  number  of  expert  wardens  and  superintendents. 
In  the  earlier  period  there  was  little  agreement  as  to  penological 
principles  and  methods;  each  warden  did  what  seemed  good  in 
his  own  eyes.  In  1870  the  National  Prison  Congress  was  organ- 
ized and  has  been  instrumental  in  diffusing  knowledge  and  in 
creating  a  consensus  of  opinion  as  to  the  best  methods  in  prison 
work.  The  National  Conference  of  Charities  and  Correction 
has  also  been  of  much  service  in  the  same  way. 

Whatever  progress  in  dealing  with  criminals  has  been  or  may 
be  made,  the  ideal  is  the  prevention  of  crime.  And  the  work  of 
child-saving  is  the  chief  agency  of  prevention.  A  large  per- 
centage of  crime  can  be  traced  to  lack  of  home  or  to  poor  home 
influences.  The  work  of  rescuing  homeless  children,  or  children 
from  homes  worse  than  none,  is  very  important.  A  great  work 
of  this  kind  has  been  done  by  the  Children's  Aid  Society  of  New 
York,  organized  in  1853  by  Charles  Loring  Brace,  who  for  many 
years  was  its  leading  spirit.  Among  the  states,  Michigan  stands 
preeminent  in  this  good  work,  largely  because  her  leaders  rec- 
ognized that  the  thing  to  be  accomplished  was  not  to  keep  chil- 
dren in  an  institution,  but  at  the  earliest  possible  moment  to  place 
them  in  good  homes. 

More  recent  years  have  witnessed  the  establishment  in  our 
cities  of  juvenile  courts,  by  which  young  boys  and  girls  are  kept 
from  the  contaminating  influences  of  the  regular  police  courts 
and,  with  the  aid  of  the  probation  system,  are  spared  the  stamp 
of  criminality.  By  the  wise  but  firm  treatment  of  experts  con- 
nected with  these  courts  they  are  often  led  to  see  the  desirability 
of  choosing  a  right  life.  Hope  for  the  future  lies  largely  in  pre- 
vention. The  solution  of  the  problem  of  crime,  as  of  almost 
every  moral  problem,  will  be  found  in  the  proper  treatment  of 
the  child. 


IX.    HOME    MISSIONS 

THEORY  AND  METHOD  OF  HOME  MISSIONS 

Rev.  Henry  Hopkins  Kelsey 
Fourth  Congregational  Church,  Hartford,  Conn. 

Seventy-five  years  of  Home  Missions  means  seventy-five 
years  of  effort  on  the  part  of  the  Christian  people  of  America 
to  build  a  Christian  Nation. 

The  founders  were,  in  their  leaders,  for  the  most  part, 
Christian  men,  whether  Puritan,  Dutch,  Quaker,  Huguenot,  or 
Cavalier  churchmen.  They  sought  one  supreme  good,  namely, 
freedom  to  worship  "as  the  Spirit  taught  and  as  conscience 
interpreted." 

There  was  no  distinctively  Home  Mission  endeavor,  aside 
from  various  attempts  to  evangelize  the  Indians,  before  the  Revo- 
lutionary War.  After  that  war,  when  settlements  began  to 
spread  in  Vermont  and  westward  into  New  York  and  Ohio, 
the  churches  began  to  unite  to  send  their  pastors  to  visit  and  give 
ministrations  in  the  Gospel  to  these  new  communities. 

The  first  Home  Missionary  Society  was  organized  in  Con- 
necticut in  1798.  Soon  it  became  evident  that,  instead  of  visits 
by  a  preacher,  these  new  communities  must  have  churches  and 
settled  ministers,  and  that  they  must  have  help  to  establish  and 
maintain  them.  The  Congregational  churches  of  New  England, 
then  numbering  more  than  six  hundred,  contributed  money  and 
furnished  men  for  this  new  Kingdom  enterprise. 

In  1834,  the  beginning  of  the  period  under  review,  the  frontier 
had  moved  from  Western  New  York  and  Ohio  to  beyond  the 
Mississippi.  The  North  Western  Territory  had  been  created  in 
1787,  and  had  opened  up  to  settlement  that  vast  keystone  of  the 
continent  lying  between  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rivers  and  the 
Great  Lakes.  The  Louisiana  Purchase  in  1803  had  added  an- 
other vast  section.  Already  there  were  two  states  west  of  the 
Mississippi  —  Arkansas  and   Missouri.     The  stream  of  west- 

487 


488  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

bound  emigration  created  a  new  problem  and  developed  a  new- 
interest  in  Home  Missions.  It  was  a  severe  problem  because 
conditions  were  so  primitive  over  all  this  vast  territory.  Com- 
munication and  transportation  were  slow  and  difficult.  Rail- 
road construction  was  only  begun  in  1834.  The  first  locomotive 
engine  was  built  in  1833.  Mills  and  Schermerhorn,  sent  out  in 
1812  to  ascertain  conditions  in  the  West,  reported  only  ten 
churches  and  seven  hundred  and  twenty  members  in  Illinois, 
which  then  had  twelve  thousand  population.  The  first  sermon 
in  the  place  where  Chicago  now  stands  was  preached  by  Jeremiah 
Porter  in  1833. 

In  1834  all  the  larger  denominations  had  organized  to  supply 
the  need  of  these  new  fields  in  the  West.  The  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  was  yet  small,  having  only  about  nine  thou- 
sand communicants.  The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  es- 
pecially through  its  itinerant  ministry,  had  been  a  mighty 
force  in  this  new  country  from  the  beginning  of  the  century. 
These  early  circuit-riders  were  heroic  men  whose  zeal  and  toil 
are  scarcely  exceeded  in  the  annals  of  Christian  history.  It  is 
said  that  the  average  ministerial  life  of  these  men  was  but  eight 
years. 

In  1826  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society  was  organized, 
in  which,  more  effectively  to  meet  the  need  of  this  great  new 
country,  the  Congregational  and  Presbyterian,  Reformed  and 
Associate  Reformed,  Churches  joined  in  a  Plan  of  Union  by  which 
they  should  act  together.  In  1826  one  half  of  the  churches  on 
the  Western  Reserve  in  Ohio  had  less  than  twenty-five  members 
each,  and  most  of  them  were  without  permanent  ministers. 
In  twenty-five  years  two  hundred  churches  had  been  planted  in 
this  territory  by  this  Society  and  supplied  with  able  pastors. 
A  similar  change  followed  in  the  settlements  along  the  Ohio 
River,  and  in  Indiana  and  Illinois. 

The  work  of  Home  Missions  in  1834  and  for  the  next  fifty 
years  was  for  the  most  part  simple.  One  thing  needed  to  be 
done,  namely,  to  supply  new  communities  with  the  Gospel  minis- 
try and  Christian  institutions.  Its  work  was  to  establish  and 
maintain  churches.  The  appeal  to  the  older  churches  was  vivid 
and  picturesque.  Their  response  was  quick  and  generous. 
The  receipts  of  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society,  in  1835- 
36  reached  for  the  first  time  $100,000. 


THEORY  AND  METHOD   OF  HOME  MISSIONS     489 

The  denominations  thus  federated  worked  in  harmony,  but 
as  they  grew  in  strength  each  began  to  undertake  work  independ- 
ently. Thus  the  Plan  of  Union  which  had  worked  so  well  was 
gradually  abandoned,  till  the  compact  was  formally  annulled  in 
1857.  The  receipts  of  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society, 
however,  show  no  break  at  that  time.  Instead,  they  steadily 
increased,  coming  now  from  Congregationalists  alone,  till  in 
1885-86  they  amounted  to  $524,544.  For  the  decade  1886-96 
the  average  was  over  $605,000.  The  gifts  and  work  of  other 
denominations  increased  in  similar  proportion. 

The  Home  Missionary  has  been  an  incalculably  important 
factor  in  the  building  of  our  nation.  The  measure  of  influence 
of  such  men  as  Manasseh  Cutler  in  Southern  Ohio,  Solomon 
Giddings  at  St.  Louis,  and  the  "Iowa  Band,"  is  beyond  com- 
putation. These  men  and  their  co-workers  did  far  more  than 
organize  churches.  They  built  and  maintained  academies  and 
colleges.  They  laid  the  foundations  of  Christian  common- 
wealths. These  men  were  educators  and  statesmen,  as  well  as 
pioneer  missionaries. 

When  the  Civil  War  was  ended  in  1865,  a  new  field  and  problem 
was  opened  up  and  laid  upon  the  churches  of  the  North.  A  race 
of  four  millions  of  freed  slaves  must  be  fitted  for  citizenship.  The 
South  was  then  unable,  smitten  as  its  whole  country  had  been 
by  the  war,  to  undertake  that  work.  To  this  call  the  churches 
responded,  sending  teachers,  founding  and  supporting  schools 
for  the  freedmen,  and  organizing  churches.  This  work  was 
undertaken  with  vigor  and  soon  grew  to  great  proportions. 
It  has  since  been  generously  sustained  by  the  Christian  people 
of  the  North  without  diminishing  their  contributions  for  Home 
Mission  work  in  the  West.  The  American  Missionary  Associa- 
tion took  charge  of  this  work  for  the  Congregational  churches. 
In  1885-86  the  total  receipts  of  this  Association  were  $385,704 
and  have  since  been  increased  to  about  half  a  million  dollars 
yearly. 

Another  phase  of  Home  Missionary  work  was  that  under- 
taken by  the  American  Sunday-school  Union,  begun  in  1824 
for  the  purpose  of  organizing  Sunday-schools  in  communities 
destitute  of  religious  privileges.  The  work  was  undenomina- 
tional, was  supported  by  churches  of  every  name,  and  has  been 
pushed  with  vigor,  with  the  expenditure  of  millions  of  dollars. 


490  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

Centers  of  religious  influence  and  education  have  been  estab- 
lished in  thousands  of  places.  Similar  pioneer  work  has  been 
and  still  is  maintained  by  each  of  the  larger  denominations. 

During  the  last  twenty-five  years  the  work  of  Home  Missions- 
has  taken  on  new  aspects;  its  simple  problem  has  become  com- 
plex. Although  there  is  no  longer  a  general  Western  frontier 
line,  the  entire  country  having  been  practically  settled  up,  there 
are  yet  places  where  all  the  earlier  conditions  prevail,  so  that  every 
phase  of  the  earlier  work  is  still  needed.  Great  dry  regions  are 
being  occupied  by  homesteaders.  The  Government  reclama- 
tion service  has  already  changed  over  3,500,000  acres  from 
barren  desert  to  acres  of  marvelous  fertility.  These  lands  are 
being  settled  quickly  and  thickly.  Men  have  learned  how  to 
prosecute  successfully  "dry  farming,"  and  without  the  irrigating 
ditch  great  ranches  are  being  transformed  into  farms.  New 
territories,  formerly  Indian  reservations,  are  being  opened  for 
settlement.  Some  of  the  largest  states,  like  Montana  and 
Texas,  are  in  the  youth  of  their  development.  The  new  com- 
munity must  yet  be  provided  with  religious  privileges  and 
institutions. 

But  the  development  of  the  West  has  drained  New  England 
and  the  older  states  of  their  best  young  life.  The  New  England 
country  church,  which  fifty  years  ago  was  strong  and  gave  lib- 
erally to  Home  Missions,  has  in  many  instances  become  depend- 
ent upon  Home  Missionary  aid  in  order  to  live.  It  must  be 
supported,  for  from  these  hillsides  young  life  still  flows  westward 
and  to  the  city.  This  is  now  a  very  important  and  considerable 
branch  of  Home  Missionary  enterprise. 

The  rapid  increase  of  the  population  of  cities,  an  almost 
startling  feature  of  the  world's  life,  has  made  the  city,  east  and 
west,  as  great  and  as  crucial  a  problem  as  the  New  West  ever 
was,  whether  viewed  in  its  relation  to  Kingdom  progress  or  the 
country's  welfare.  To  evangelize  our  cities,  to  build  and 
maintain  in  them  churches  and  Christian  institutions  so  strong 
that  they  will  dominate  the  city's  Ufe  —  this  is  to-day  the 
largest  and  most  crucial  problem  in  the  enterprise  of  Home 
Missions. 

Together  with  the  city  problem  has  come  the  problem  of  the 
immigrant.  The  two  are  largely  bound  together,  since  so  large 
a  proportion  of  these  foreigners  stay  in  the  cities.     The  tide  of 


THEORY  AND  METHOD  OF  HOME  MISSIONS     491 

immigration  rose  from  1865  to  1882  and  again  in  1892.  So 
long  as  the  major  part  were  either  Roman  Catholics  from  Ireland 
or  Protestants  from  Northern  Europe,  to  give  these  newcomers 
Christian  care  did  not  loom  up  as  a  definite  or  difficult  problem. 
But  when  in  1900  the  tide  set  in  from  Southern  Europe,  and 
increased  till  these  new  citizens  of  foreign  language  and  life 
numbered  more  than  a  million  a  year,  the  work  of  teaching  them 
what  Christianity  really  is,  of  fitting  them  for  citizenship  in  a 
free  Christian  country,  as  well  as  of  saving  their  souls,  began  to 
grip  the  mind  of  the  churches  as  a  new  and  pressing  phase  of 
Home  Missions.  This  is  as  yet  a  work  but  feebly  undertaken. 
The  public  schools  are  doing  superb  work  in  behalf  of  the  chil- 
dren, in  respect  of  secular  education  and  patriotism.  Some 
churches  and  the  Home  Missionary  societies  have  made  an 
excellent  and  promising  beginning  at  this,  their  now  most  diffi- 
cult task.     All  they  have  done,  however,  is  but  a  beginning. 

The  problem  is  most  acute  in  New  York  City  and  in  New 
England,  Of  800,000  immigrants  arriving  at  the  port  of  New 
York,  14,000  went  south  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  Line,  44,000 
went  west  of  the  Mississippi,  353,000  stayed  in  the  city  of  New 
York.  In  1902  New  York  was  the  fourth  largest  Italian  city; 
in  1906  it  was  the  second;  to-day  it  is  the  largest  in  the  world. 
This  illustrates  the  situation  in  all  the  North  Atlantic  cities. 
One  quarter  of  the  population  of  New  Haven,  Conn.,  is  Italian. 

Seventy-five  years  ago  the  population  of  New  England  was 
homogeneous  —  Anglo-Saxon,  Protestant.  To-day  Massachu- 
setts is  the  most  foreign  state  in  the  Union,  and  Connecticut 
is  close  behind.  Thus  Puritan  New  England,  with  about  sixty 
per  cent,  of  its  population  of  foreign  parentage,  has  become 
a  new  frontier,  and  therefore  a  field  for  Home  Missions. 

The  development  of  the  New  South  is  also  claiming  the  atten- 
tion of  the  northern  Puritan  churches.  Their  democratic  ideals 
in  civic  and  church  life  are  needed  and  wanted.  It  is  predicted 
that  the  South  will  be  the  richest  section  of  the  country.  It 
will  unquestionably  have  the  largest  proportion  of  Anglo-Saxon 
population.  Its  cities  will  grow.  Its  spirit  and  institutions  will 
be  one  with  the  rest  of  the  land.  Its  religious  needs  must  be 
considered  and  provided  for  by  the  churches  which  seek  to 
make  and  keep  the  entire  land  and  all  its  people  Christian. 

The  problem  and  work  of  the  Home  Missionary  societies  are 


492  RECENT  CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

now  complex  and  difficult,  both  for  the  above  reasons,  and  also 
because  we  have  come  into  a  new  era  of  social  service.  In  recent 
years  Christian  activity  has  broadened  out  into  many  new  chan- 
nels, and  each  new  form  of  service,  whether  religious  or  philan- 
thropic, claims  a  part  of  the  service,  energy,  and  money  re- 
sources of  the  Church.  How  varied  and  numerous  these  forms 
of  social  service  have  become  is  witnessed  by  the  fact  that  the 
Year-Book  of  the  Charity  Organization  Society  of  New  York 
City,  which  gives  but  a  paragraph  descriptive  of  each  of  her 
philanthropic,  educational,  and  religious  institutions,  is  a  book 
of  over  eight  hundred  pages.  A  bewildering  multitude  of  things 
are  now  being  done,  local,  city,  state,  nation-wide  in  their  scope, 
maintained  chiefly  by  the  people  of  the  churches.  All  of  them 
are  secondary  Home  Missionary  activities.  The  development 
of  all  these  activities  and  institutions  is  one  of  the  marks  of 
the  progress  of  seventy-five  years. 

But  these  multiplied  social  activities  not  only  are  distinct  marks 
of  present  progress,  but  they  also  immediately  affect  the  work  of 
Home  Missions  in  two  ways :  — 

(i)  They  compel,  in  some  degree,  a  change  in  its  program. 
As  expressing  the"  outreach  of  the  Church  to  win  and  mold  the 
world,  the  program  and  method  of  Home  Missions  must  be  in 
accord  with  the  spirit  and  need  of  the  times.  Such  an  adjust- 
ment of  organization  and  method  has  been  in  part  already  made, 
as  appears  in  the  Department  of  Church  and  Labor  instituted 
and  maintained  by  the  Presbyterian  Home  Missionary  Society, 
and  the  plan  of  the  Congregationalists  to  establish  a  similar  de- 
partment, which  they  have  been  compelled  to  delay  for  lack  of 
income. 

(2)  Another  very  distinct  effect  of  the  new  social  propaganda 
has  been  to  weaken  the  Church  in  the  esteem  of  the  people.  Other 
institutions  now  rival  her  and  receive  support  which  formerly 
was  given  to  her.  This  is  one  of  the  potent  reasons  why  the 
income  of  the  Home  Missionary  societies  has  not  been  increased 
during  the  last  ten  years.  Thirty  or  forty  years  ago  evangeliza- 
tion and  the  establishment  of  churches  was  felt  to  be  the  one 
imperative  work  of  the  Church,  and  the  response  to  need  and 
opportunity  was  instant  and  generous.  Now  other  needs  and 
forms  of  Christian  service  have  arisen.  We  are  in  the  period  of 
adjustment  to  new  sociological  conditions,  and  such  readjust- 


THEORY  AND  METHOD   OF  HOME  MISSIONS     493 

ment  of  thought  and  life  to  new  conditions  on  the  part  of  large 
bodies  of  people  and  organizations  cannot  be  made  quickly. 

The  work  of  Home  Missions  is  receiving  a  new  definition. 
Its  methods  are  changing,  its  scope  widening.  When  the  defi- 
nition of  the  larger  need  is  grasped,  the  cause  will  regain  its 
place  in  the  esteem  and  gifts  of  Christian  people.  In  this  new 
definition  it  will  be  seen  that  while  social  ministries  are  neces- 
sary in  both  the  older  and  newer  communities,  among  the  native 
and  the  foreign-born,  the  Church  is  and  will  be  the  essential 
institution  through  whose  teaching  and  life  alone  these  social 
ministries  can  be  maintained. 

The  specific  work  of  Home  Missions  is  now,  as  it  has  been 
from  the  beginning,  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of 
churches.  The  very  conditions  which  have  made  a  manifold 
social  service  necessary  have  developed  a  new  emphasis  of  neces- 
sity that  this  thing  shall  be  done  and  well  done.  Into  these 
churches  must  be  gathered  the  resources  of  energy  and  wealth 
of  communities,  that  by  their  use  and  application  in  Christian 
service  a  Christian  citizenship  shall  be  created  and  preserved. 

The  need  of  Home  Missions  is  not  passing  by.  The  changed 
conditions  of  seventy-five  years  have  rather  created  a  new  and 
greater  need,  as  they  have  made  the  work  many  times  more  com- 
plex and  difficult.  Its  workers  have  always  been  inspired  by  two 
motives,  loyalty  to  Christ  and  to  country.  These  still  abide,  with 
an  increasing  appeal  to  the  patriotic,  for  if  this  country  is  ever 
all  evangelized  and  all  its  many-tongued  people  made  and  kept 
Christian,  the  Church  must  do  it.  In  this  lies  our  nation's 
only  security  and  hope. 

But  the  necessity  for  the  vigorous  maintenance  of  the  work 
of  Home  Missions  is  deeper  and  higher  than  even  the  welfare 
of  our  own  country.  America  is  related  to  the  world.  The 
possibility  of  her  power  in  world  evangelization  is  immeasurable. 
To  save  America  for  Christ  and  her  own  great  future  is  an  in- 
spiring task.  To  save  America  for  Christ  that  America  may  do 
her  full  share  in  saving  the  world  —  this  is  the  goal  that  Christ 
sets  before  us.  This  is  the  end  and  inspiration  of  Home  Mis- 
sions. 


HOME   MISSION   WORK  AMONG    THE 
FREEDMEN 

Professor  Myron  Winslow  Adams,  Ph.D. 

Atlanta  University 

The  Negro  in  North  America  has  always  been  in  contact  with 
Christian  white  people.  He  came  here  as  a  heathen,  and  he 
has  been  brought  from  heathenism  to  Christianity,  but  the  process 
has  been  unlike  missionary  work  as  it  has  usually  been  con- 
ducted. For  the  Negro,  in  his  relation  to  his  Christian  white 
neighbor,  differed  materially  from  the  ordinary  non-Christian 
man.  He  was  the  Christian's  property.  The  Christian,  then, 
must  look  at  him  with  a  divided  mind.  On  the  one  hand,  he 
remembered  his  black  neighbor's  soul;  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
he  considered  his  own  property  interests.  The  consequent 
mental  struggle  is  interesting,  as  reflected  in  the  literature,  the 
ecclesiastical  decisions,  and  the  laws  of  the  slavery  period.  We 
cannot  follow  that  struggle  in  detail.  Christian  people  did  not 
mean  to  neglect  their  duty  to  the  Negro;  General  "Stonewall" 
Jackson  was  not  alone  in  teaching  in  a  colored  Sunday-school. 
But  on  the  whole,  as  time  went  on,  the  property  idea  of  the 
Negro  came  to  dominate  the  idea  of  the  Negro  as  entitled  to  the 
highest  that  God  might  give  to  him.  Teaching  a  colored  person 
to  read  the  Bible,  for  example,  became  a  crime  in  a  large  section 
of  the  land;  religious  services  were  restricted;  legal  marriage 
was  forbidden. 

Of  this  predominance  of  the  property  idea  over  the  true 
Christian  idea  we  give  one  example  only,  an  ecclesiastical  deci- 
sion in  1835  of  the  Savannah  River  Baptist  Association  of  Min- 
isters, It  was  a  decision  intended  to  show  that  the  separation  of 
slave  (hence  not  legal)  husband  and  wife  by  sale  was  wholly 
consistent  with  Christian  principles.  The  decision  was:  "that 
such  separation,  among  persons  situated  as  slaves  are,  is  civilly 
a  separation  by  death,  and  that  in  the  sight  of  God  it  would  be  so 

494 


MISSION   WORK    AMONG   THE    FREEDMEN     495 

viewed.  To  forbid  second  marriages  in  such  case  would  be  to 
expose  the  parties  to  church  censure  for  disobedience  to  their 
masters,  and  to  the  spirit  of  that  command  which  regulates  mar- 
riage among  Christians.  The  slaves  are  not  free  agents,  and  a 
dissolution  by  death  is  not  more  entirely  without  their  consent 
and  beyond  their  control  than  by  such  separation  "  (Du  Bois, 
Negro  Church,  p.   56). 

We  recognize  fully  that  much  was  done,  with  earnestness  and 
good  results,  by  that  part  of  the  master-class  which  was  Chris- 
tian; but  in  the  nature  of  the  case  the  general  mass  of  slaves 
could  not  receive  from  their  masters  the  wliole  Gospel.  The 
master-class,  however,  was  not  the  only  agency.  An  important 
influence  was  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  in- 
corporated in  England  in  1701,  one  of  whose  objects  was  "the 
conversion  of  the  Negroes"  {Negro  Church,  p.  12).  Until 
the  War  of  the  Revolution  this  society  put  forth  earnest  efforts 
among  the  Negroes,  both  slave  and  free,  both  directly  and  by 
way  of  urging  the  master-class  to  do  their  duty.  The  Mora- 
vians, or  United  Brethren,  also  worked  among  the  Negroes.  In 
1795  it  is  supposed  that  there  were  about  nineteen  thousand 
colored  Baptist  and  thirteen  thousand  colored  INIethodist 
church-members.  Not  far  from  1835  these  two  great  de- 
nominations paid  more  earnest  attention  to  this  work,  and  it 
is  thought  that  just  before  the  Civil  War  there  may  have 
been  468,000  colored  church-members  in  the  South,  of  whom 
215,000  were  Methodists  and  175,000  Baptists  (Negro  Church, 
pp.  19,  29). 

In  part,  in  the  slaveholding  states,  the  colored  and  white  were 
members  of  the  same  church,  having  one  pastor  and  worship- 
ing in  the  same  building,  either  at  different  hours  of  the  day  or 
with  seats  in  different  parts  of  the  house.  In  part  the  organi- 
zations were  separate,  frequently  with  colored  preachers  for  the 
colored  churches,  but  under  the  general  oversight  of  the  white 
people.  The  Jubilee  Volume  of  the  Baptist  Home  Mission 
Society  (1882)  refers  to  the  first  colored  Baptist  church  of  Sa- 
vannah as  organized  in  1788,  and  as  having  1200  members  in 
1848.  A  second  colored  Ba[)tist  church  was  organized  in  Savan- 
nah in  1803;  one  in  Portsmouth,  Va.,  in  1798.  A  colored 
Baptist  church  in  Richmond,  Va.,  had  2000  members  soon  after 
1841.     That  in  Lexington,  Ky.,  was  in  1846  the  largest  in  the 


496  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

city,  with  1143  members.  In  1845  there  were  5600  colored 
members  of  churches  in  the  Baptist  Association  at  Augusta,  Ga., 
one  church  alone,  the  Springfield,  having  11 73. 

Another  influence  beginning  before  the  War  of  Emancipa- 
tion and  deserving  special  mention  is  the  American  Missionary- 
Association.  This  was  an  undenominational  movement,  or- 
ganized Sept.  3,  1846,  being  practically  a  combination  of  several 
previous  local  movements  in  Connecticut  and  Ohio.  This 
organization  was  so  strongly  anti-slavery  that  it  could  not  in  its 
early  years  have  direct  access  to  the  slave.  "The  American 
Missionary  Association  has  the  distinction  of  having  made  the 
first  decided  efforts,  while  slavery  existed,  for  the  education  and 
religious  instruction  of  the  white  people  of  the  South  on  an 
avowedly  anti-slavery  basis"  (Cooper,  Sixty  Years  and  Beyond). 
Mention  also  should  be  made,  because  of  their  subsequent 
work,  of  the  colored  organizations  formed  in  the  North  among 
the  free  Negroes ;  especially  of  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  formally  organized  in  Philadelphia  in  1816;  the  Afri- 
can Methodist  Episcopal  Zion  Church,  New  York,  1820  j 
and  separate  colored  Baptist  Associations,  the  first  in  Ohio  in 
1836. 

And  now  comes  the  War.  The  American  Missionary  As- 
sociation, already  organized  and  full  of  fervent  conviction,  is  the 
first  to  enter  the  field,  its  earliest  missionary  reaching  Hampton, 
Va.,  Sept.  3,  1861.  By  1864  it  had  250  missionaries  and 
teachers  in  the  South.  The  first  appointment  by  the  American 
Baptist  Home  Mission  Society  was  Jan.  30,  1862,  although  the 
distinctive  work  of  that  society  among  the  freedmen  was  not 
fairly  begun  until  1864.  The  Methodists  sent  their  mission- 
aries soon  after  the  close  of  the  War,  the  first  to  the  State  of 
Georgia  being  Rev.  George  Sanding,  who,  in  May,  1908,  died  in 
Atlanta.  He  was  an  Englishman,  to  which  fact  he  occasionally 
appealed,  as  the  Apostle  Paul  to  his  Roman  citizenship,  and 
probably  thereby  preserved  his  life  for  the  work.  He  was  a 
man  of  unusual  earnestness  and. power,  with  a  fire  which 
fourscore  years  did  not  quench,  and  who  did  a  lasting  and 
widespread  work.  The  Presbyterians,  the  Episcopalians, 
and  others  were  not  far  behind.  The  impoverished  white 
Southern  churches  also  never  wholly  gave  up  their  work 
for    the    Negro.      As  before   the  War  "Stonewall"   Jackson 


MISSION   WORK   AMONG   THE   FREEDMEN     497 

taught  in  the  Presbyterian  Negro  Sunday-school,  so  after  the 
War  the  family  of  General  and  Senator  John  B.  Gordon 
taught  in  a  Presbyterian  Sunday-school  for  colored  children 
near  Atlanta. 

Religious  work  among  the  colored  people  has  suffered  from 
the  inheritance  of  slavery.  In  the  days  when  they  were  regarded 
as  property,  they  were  taught  the  Christian  duty  of  obedience 
to  man ;  but  how  could  they  be  taught,  with  real  effectiveness, 
the  Christian  privileges  of  wisdom,  of  liberty,  and  of  home? 
Similarly,  since  the  War  they  have  been  looked  upon  as  inferior 
and  destined  to  remain  such  forever.  Legislation  and  custom 
are  positive  in  their  assertion  that  they  are  not  the  same  as  other 
people,  but  must  stand  aside.  Generally  —  there  are  some 
exceptions  —  the  Negro  is  not  to  attend  the  same  church  as 
the  white  man  except  as  janitor.  Even  in  a  denomination 
like  the  Congregationalist  the  white  and  colored  churches 
do  not  unite  as  members  of  the  same  Convention  or  Associa- 
tion even  in  a  bare  business  capacity ;  they  find  real  fellow- 
ship only  as  they  meet  in  some  great  gathering  in  a  Northern 
state.  It  is  inevitable  that  this  condition  of  affairs  should 
have  a  certain  effect  upon  religious  work  among  the  colored 
people. 

In  broad  outline,  the  distinctively  church-work  among  the 
Negroes  is  under  control  of  their  own  great  denominations,  which 
rapidly  covered  most  of  the  field  as  soon  as  the  War  opened 
the  way.  The  distinctively  educational  work,  funds  for  which 
must  largely  be  obtained  from  without,  has  more  generally  re- 
mained, and  naturally  so,  in  the  hands  of  outside  organizations. 
It  must  be  remembered  that  the  colored  children  are  not  given 
the  same  opportunity  as  the  white  from  the  public  funds. 
For  instance,  in  the  four  largest  cities  in  Georgia,  Atlanta, 
Savannah,  Augusta,  and  Macon,  there  are  public  high  schools 
for  white  children,  but  none  for  colored ;  and  the  grammar- 
school  accommodations  for  the  colored  children  are  wholly 
inadequate  to  the  school  population.  Conditions  like  this  are 
widespread;  and  as  long  as  they  last,  there  is  need  of  extra 
funds  for  the  support  of  missionary  schools  among  the  colored 
people. 

The  latest  available  figures  at  my  disposal  give  the  following 
statistics  in  regard  to  the  churches :  — 

2K 


498 


RECENT  CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 


Date 


Baptists  .  .  .  . 
African  M.E.  .  . 
African  M.E.  Zion 

M.E 

Colored  M.E.  .  . 
Others 

Total  .  .  .  . 


1908 
1908 
1906 
1908 


1,864.877 

858,323 
583,106 
327,000 
214,987 
166,828 


4,024,834 


$14,376,372  (1905) 
9,404.675  (1 903) 
5,094,000  (1 90 5) 
4.566,951  (1906) 
1,715,566  (1906) 
2,5i9'3i3  ('906) 


$37,676,877 


These  figures  are  undoubtedly  larger  than  they  ought  to  be. 
Pastors  sometimes  say  that  they  have  such  and  such  a  number  of 
church-members,  if  they  only  knew  where  to  find  them.  The 
church-property  is  often  heavily  mortgaged.  But,  in  a  general 
way,  the  figures  show  what  the  denominations  are  doing  in 
church-work. 

In  educational  work,  in  the  early  years  after  the  War,  large 
sums  of  money  were  spent  and  much  good  was  accomplished, 
prior  to  the  establishment  of  public-school  systems  in  the  South- 
ern states  (the  credit  for  which  establishment  belongs  chiefly 
to  the  so-called  "carpet  bag"  governments) ,  by  the  United  States 
Government  through  the  Freedmen's  Bureau.  In  1866  this 
bureau  supported  975  schools,  with  1405  teachers,  the  majority 
of  whom  were  white,  and  90,778  pupils.  The  corresponding 
iigures  in  1870  were  2677,  3300,  and  149,581.  Who  can  deny 
to  that  work,  and  to  the  early  public-school  work  of  the  states, 
a  real  right  to  be  characterized  as  "  missionary "  ?  But  in  this 
paper  we  have  especially  in  mind  what  is  more  usually  termed 
benevolent,  and  may  say  that  school  missionary  work  can  be 
looked  at  as  fourfold :  that  of  the  colored  churches  themselves, 
that  of  Northern  missionary  societies,  that  of  Southern  white 
churches,  and  of  the  independent  schools. 

I.  The  Independent  Schools. — Examples  of  these  are:  The 
two  great  industrial  schools,  Hampton  Institute  (originally  under 
the  American  Missionary  Association)  and  Tuskegee  Institute; 
Howard  University,  whose  theological  work  is  still  aided  by 
Congregationalists ;  Atlanta  University  and  Leland  University, 
originally  fostered  by  the  Congregational  and  Baptist  denomina- 
tions respectively;  a  number  of  institutions  aided  by  the  Gen- 
eral Education  Board,  which  also  assists  some  of  the  institutions 


MISSION   WORK   AMONG   THE   FREEDMEN     499 

just  named  and  certain  denominational  schools ;  and  the  recent 
Jeanes  Fund  for  common  schools  in  the  rural  districts. 

2.  The  Southern  White  Churches.  —  These  have  not  done  so 
much  as  the  other  agencies.  The  causes  are  not  far  to  seek: 
their  comparative  poverty,  the  claims  of  their  own  work,  the 
fact  that  the  Northern  churches  are  working  among  the  colored 
people,  a  considerable  measure  of  indifference,  and  more  or  less 
fear  of  friction.  Yet  something  has  been  done,  as  may  be  seen  in 
the  work  of  the  Stillman  Institute  in  Tuscaloosa,  Ala.,  sustained 
by  the  Southern  Presbyterians;  and  Paine  College,  Augusta, 
Ga.,  largely  supported  by  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
South,  and  with  colored  and  white  Southern  teachers  on  the 
same  faculty. 

3.  The  Colored  Churches.  — In  part  these  work  in  cooperation 
with  others,  notably  the  Baptists,  who  affiliate  largely  with  the 
Northern  Baptist  Missionary  Society,  and  the  colored  Methodist 
Episcopalians,  as  noted  just  above.  In  still  larger  measure 
they  work  independently,  seeking  some  outside  help,  but  also 
paying  much  themselves.  The  work  which  they  do  is  of  im- 
mense value.  Those  in  authority  are  themselves  educated  in 
cooperation,  finance,  and  management,  and  thousands  of  pupils 
each  year  are  brought  under  instruction.  Especial  mention 
ought  to  be  made  of  Wilberforce  University  in  Ohio,  established 
in  1856,  and  so  the  oldest  Negro  institution  in  the  United  States, 
which  is  under  the  control  of  the  African  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church. 

Recent  figures  by  Vass  (Du  Bois,  Economic  Cooperation,  p.  73) 
give  a  reasonably  correct  idea  of  what  is  done  by  the  three 
largest  colored  denominations :  — 


Schools 

Teachers 

Pupils 

Value  of  Plants 

Yearly  Expenses 

Baptists 

African  M.E.  .  . 
African  M.E.Zion 

88 

24 
10 

440 

160 

70 

8,947 
6.685 
2,500 

$600,000 
750,000 
200,000 

$157,324 

125,000 

50,000 

Total 

122 

670 

18,132 

$1,550,000 

$332,324 

4.  The  Northern  Benevolent  Societies.  —  A  powerful  agency 
is  the  General  Education  Board,  which  investigates  the  whole 
field   and   assists   many   schools.      The  American   Missionary 


500  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

Association,  because  of  its  early  entrance  into  the  field  and  occu- 
pation of  strategic  points,  has  been  a  tremendous  power.  Its 
schools  of  all  types  for  Negroes,  six  of  them  chartered,  in  1906 
numbered  sixty-one,  with  13,042  pupils,  of  whom  172  were  in 
college  courses.  The  American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society 
began  active  work  in  1864,  and  perhaps  on  the  whole  has  a  work 
among  the  colored  people  more  carefully  coordinated  than  that 
of  any  other  body  of  churches.  At  the  close  of  forty  years  of 
work  it  had  spent  over  four  million  dollars  and  was  fostering 
eleven  higher  and  fifteen  secondary  institutions,  having  a  prop- 
erty valued  at  one  and  three  fourths  million  dollars,  349  teachers 
and  7812  students,  of  whom  480  were  studying  for  the  ministry 
and  189  were  doing  college  work.  The  Presbyterian  Board  of 
Missions,  which  also  began  work  in  1864,  reports  in  1907 
one  hundred  and  fifteen  schools  of  all  kinds,  with  334  teach- 
ers and  13,345  pupils.  The  Freedman's  Aid  Society  (M.E.) 
reports  (1908)  twenty-two  institutions  with  7768  students. 
The  United  Presbyterians,  Friends,  Episcopalians,  Unitarians, 
Catholics,  aU  share  in  the  work. 

"None  of  us  liveth  to  himself,  and  no  man  dieth  to  himself." 
The  problem  is,  How  shall  the  Northern  white  man,  the  Southern 
white  man,  and  the  Southern  colored  man  be  brought,  all  together, 
to  see  the  situation  "eye  to  eye,"  as  the  Lord  himself  sees  it,  in 
the  Southern  field.  We  all  need  to  be  willing  to  learn ;  no  one  of 
the  three  parties  as  yet  can  see  perfectly.  In  the  meantime,  we 
who  are  strong  should  help  the  weaker  brethren,  and  all  should 
confer  and  labor  together,  that  in  the  end  we  may  best  serve  the 
interests  of  our  common  country  and  of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 


HOME   MISSIONS   IN   THE   WEST 

Rev.  William  Waterbury  Sctjdder 
Superintendent,  C.H.M.S.,  Seattle,  Wash. 

The  Christian  conquest  of  a  continent,  within  the  lifetime  of 
many  of  its  citizens,  is  the  unparalleled  achievement  of  Ameri- 
can Home  Missions.  History  has  no  other  record  of  the  lifting 
of  an  infant  nation  to  the  position  of  the  world's  foremost  force 
for  righteousness  and  peace  within  the  brief  span  of  a  human  life. 
So  quietly  has  this  work  loomed  up  amid  the  century's  crush  and 
clatter,  that  many  have  lived  in  unconsciousness  of  its  grandeur 
and  of  its  relation  to  our  national  welfare,  until,  like  some  cloud- 
covered  mountain,  it  has  been  disclosed  by  the  parting  of  the 
mists  and  smoke  that  have  shrouded  it  —  the  most  massive  and 
majestic  object  on  our  horizon.  Never  before  in  so  short  a  time 
over  so  large  an  area  were  such  tremendous  issues  fought  out  by 
the  moral  and  religious  forces  of  any  nation.  Recall  the  feeble 
beginnings  and  slender  resources  of  the  Home  Missionary  move- 
ment, the  fearful  odds  it  encountered,  the  varied  problems  and 
sudden  changes  it  was  called  to  face.  Review  its  rapid  advance 
under  the  stress  of  national  expansion,  and  under  the  strain  of  an 
industrial  development  furiously  driven  by  those  gigantic  forces 
that  the  nineteenth  century  threw  out  upon  the  world.  How 
tirelessly  it  struggled  among  the  race-torrents  that  flooded  our 
nation,  and  amidst  those  whorls  of  population  that  swept  into 
and  around  our  cities !  Out  of  vast  social  upheavals  and 
national  disorders,  intricate,  puzzling,  passionate.  Home  Mis- 
sions emerged  holding  aloft  the  Cross,  bringing  order  out  of  chaos, 
and  determining  the  place  of  leadership  and  power  the  American 
people  have  been  called  to  take  in  world-wide  movements  for 
democracy  and  evangelization. 

The  preparation  for  this  movement  opens  a  romantic  history. 
Twice  did  Rome  under  the  Spanish  and  French  occupations 
overrun  and  possess  the  New  World,  to  all  appearances  hope- 
lessly dooming  the  broad  West  to  the  stifling  influences  of  a 

SOI 


502  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

bigoted  ecclesiasticism.  Strangely,  and  as  suddenly  as  from  a 
paralyzed  hand,  this  huge  domain  slipped  from  her  grasp.  This 
repeated  sweep  and  collapse  of  the  Papal  propaganda,  followed 
by  the  dissemination  throughout  this  wide  area  of  the  ideas  and 
institutions  of  the  Protestant  colonies  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard  — 
colonies  that  had  been  founded,  without  exception,  on  religious 
principles  and  from  avowed  missionary  motives  —  must  ever 
appear  one  of  the  most  remarkable  overrulings  of  history. 
Makers  of  commonwealths  never  had  nobler  missionary  ancestry 
than  the  Pilgrims  of  the  Mayflower,  their  Puritan  brothers,  and 
the  Huguenots  of  the  settlements  in  the  South.  Safeguarded  by 
ocean-barriers  from  undue  Old  World  interference,  fused  into  a 
nationality  by  revolutionary  struggles,  tempered  by  the  heat  of 
great  revival  fires,  the  sturdy  descendants  of  these  colonists 
at  the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century  set  themselves  to  the 
building  of  the  world's  greatest  Christian  republic. 

The  earliest  Home  Missionary  impulses  had  already  sprung 
from  New  England,  the  religious  heart  of  the  country,  at  a  time 
when  her  churches  had  been  cleansed  by  powerful  spiritual 
awakenings.  It  was  at  first  but  little  more  than  a  spasmodic 
and  somewhat  futile  attempt  at  pastoral  evangelism.  This  had 
later  led  to  the  formation  of  State  Societies  in  all  the  New  Eng- 
land states,  which  for  thirty  years  prior  to  a  national  organiza- 
tion, with  characteristic  unselfishness,  sent  nearly  every  dollar 
they  raised  and  every  missionary  they  supported  into  the  west- 
ern communities  just  forming  beyond  their  own  borders. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  period  covered  by  this  review,  in  spite 
of  the  quickened  life  of  the  churches,  the  moral  conditions, 
particularly  as  one  went  westward,  were  deplorable.  Intemper- 
ance was  strongly  intrenched  behind  business  and  social  practices. 
Every  laborer  was  supplied  with  grog.  The  chief  bill  for  festive 
occasions,  and  even  for  such  religious  events  as  ordinations,  was 
for  rum,  while  church-officials  engaged  in  the  liquor  traffic,  and 
polite  drunkenness  was  condoned. 

Gambling  was  rife.  Colleges,  churches,  charities,  even  civic 
and  military  improvements,  were  supported  by  lotteries.  Duel- 
ling was  the  code  of  honor.  Prize-fights  were  frequent.  French 
infidelity  was  popular.  There  were  few  professional  men  or 
officials,  we  are  told,  who  were  not  skeptics;  in  many  colleges 
there  was  "scarcely  a  praying  student" ;  and  infidel  clubs,  with 


HOME   MISSIONS   IN  THE   WEST  503 

their  profanity,  vulgarity,  and  tippling  habits,  held  the  place  in 
those  institutions  that  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations 
do  to-day.  To  the  new  settlements,  where  they  could  escape 
the  courts,  flocked  adventurers,  criminals,  desperate  characters, 
fugitives  from  justice.  They  frequently  formed  the  controlling 
elements,  effectually  preventing  the  establishment  of  law  and 
order.  To  many  an  anxious  watcher  in  that  black  night  the 
dawn  seemed  far  away.  On  a  tour  of  investigation,  in  1813,  of 
the  states  lying  between  the  AUcghanics,  the  Mississippi,  the 
Ohio,  and  the  Gulf,  Samuel  J.  Mills  on  careful  estimates  declared 
that  there  were  75,000  families  without  a  copy  of  the  Scriptures. 
He  reported  regions  containing  from  20,000  to  50,000  people  with- 
out Christian  ministers  or  religious  services  of  any  sort.  Sunday 
was  observed  as  a  day  of  revelry  and  sport,  of  drunkenness  and 
fighting,  with  games,  balls,  and  rude  theaters  in  full  swing.  With 
religion  and  law  so  remote,  a  loose  observance  of  the  marriage 
tie  was  prevalent  on  the  frontier.  There  were  clipped,  in  181 5, 
during  one  month,  from  one  twentieth  of  the  newspapers  of  the 
country,  over  one  hundred  different  advertisements  for  runaway 
wives  —  a  sufficient  comment  on  the  impurity,  brutality,  and 
unhappiness  of  family  life  in  the  wilds. 

But  the  trouble  was  aggravated  by  the  almost  limitless  area 
over  which  these  evils  could  spread  and  establish  themselves. 
The  churches  and  Christian  institutions  of  the  nation  formed  a 
narrow  fringe  along  the  Atlantic  border.  Behind  the  entire 
stretch  of  these  Atlantic  states  lay  the  great  wilderness,  traversed 
by  hostile  tribes,  dotted  by  irreligious  settlements,  pushing  its 
rough  frontier  life  to  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi.  The  Christian 
occupation  of  the  newly  opened  "Northwest  Territory" — the 
five  states  that  lay  between  the  Great  Lakes  and  the  Ohio  —  was 
alone  a  work  large  enough  to  tax  to  the  full  the  religious  forces  of 
the  nation.  But  the  "  Louisiana  Purchase"  had  now  doubled  the 
national  domain,  adding  thirteen  more  imperial  commonwealths 
for  exploration  and  occupancy,  stretching  west  over  the  Rockies 
from  the  Gulf  to  the  British  line.  Grave  political  fears  were  ex- 
pressed lest  the  national  government  itself  should  break  under 
the  vast  administrative  burdens  arising  from  this  doubling  of  our 
possessions.  The  Pacific  coast  was,  of  course,  not  included  in 
the  nation's  thought,  though  its  beginnings  were  only  thirty  years 
away. 


S04  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

The  first  problem  of  Western  Home  Missions,  therefore,  was 
one  of  expansion.  From  slender  resources  and  almost  no  organi- 
zation must  be  evolved  the  missionary  forces  that  could  keep  pace 
with  this  sudden  enlargement,  and  in  a  running  battle  through 
the  roughest  of  regions  attack  and  vanquish  gigantic  evils  that 
were  racing  like  fire  over  three  fourths  of  our  national  territory. 
It  was  a  fierce,  thrilling  fight.  Matters  were  not  minced.  There 
were  excesses,  of  course,  but  the  work  was  thoroughly  done.  The 
wild  frontiersman  called  for  the  rough  religion  of  the  fighting 
parson  and  the  powerful  excitement  of  the  camp-meeting;  and 
he  got  them  both  served  strong  and  hot.  The  circuit-rider,  in  his 
tireless  rounds  among  scattered  populations,  revived  smolder- 
ing fires,  rebuked  noxious  practices,  and  laid  the  rugged  founda- 
tions on  which  succeeding  civilizations  were  reared.  The  Bible 
colporteur  in  the  first  third  of  the  century  put  a  copy  of  God's 
Word  in  every  home  in  the  land.  Over  the  nation  rode  the 
Sunday-school  missionary,  establishing  thousands  upon  thou- 
sands of  schools,  in  which  were  gathered  teachers  by  hundreds 
of  thousands  and  pupils  by  the  million. 

The  home  missionary  had  to  be  a  good  deal  more  than  a 
preacher.  Like  Nehemiah's  men,  he  had  to  build  as  well  as 
fight.  He  must  help  clear  the  forests,  found  the  town,  establish 
the  government,  and  lead  in  all  public  enterprises.  He  must  erect 
the  home,  the  church,  the  school,  the  college,  as  well  as  evangelize 
the  camps  and  villages.  Across  the  prairies,  the  plains,  over 
deserts  and  ranges,  he  followed  the  trail  of  the  trapper  and  the 
track  of  the  pioneer.  These  patriot  preachers  were  the  nation's 
real  builders.  With  heroic  self-sacrifice  they  toiled  on,  sternly 
setting  aside  the  alluring  opportunities  for  acquiring  wealth  that 
they  encountered  on  every  hand,  devoting  every  energy  to  the 
spiritual  welfare  of  their  people,  supporting  their  families  and 
educating  their  children  on  the  slenderest  of  salaries,  putting  into 
each  community  they  saved  manifold  more  of  blessing  than  they 
received  —  "of  whom  the  world  was  not  worthy."  The  na- 
tional debt  to  these  stalwart  scouts  of  civilization  and  to  their 
home  missionary  wives  and  mothers,  who  with  equal  devotion 
gave  themselves  to  this  service,  has  not  always  been  acknowledged. 
"It  is  such  missionary  work,"  said  President  Roosevelt,  "that 
prevents  the  pioneers  from  sinking  perilously  near  the  level  of  the 
savagery  against  which  they  contend.    Without  it,  the  conquest  of 


HOME    MISSIONS   IN   THE   WEST  505 

this  continent  would  have  had  little  but  an  animal  side.  Because 
■of  it,  deep  beneath  and  through  the  national  character  there  runs 
that  power  of  fierce  adherence  to  a  lofty  ideal  upon  which  the 
safety  of  the  nation  will  ultimately  depend.  If  it  were  not 
that  in  our  villages  and  towns,  as  they  have  grown  up,  the 
churches  have  grown  with  them,  .  .  .  this  would  not  be  a  nation 
to-day,  because  this  would  not  be  an  abode  fit  for  civilized  men." 

In  the  midst  of  a  civilization  whose  every  breath  draws  in  a 
Christian  atmosphere,  it  is  as  hard  to  picture  a  Christless  develop- 
ment as  it  is  for  a  well-fed  man  to  imagine  himself  starving  to 
-death.  But  let  us  try  to  get  a  vision  of  what  might  have  been. 
Twenty-five  or  thirty  states  given  over  to  the  lawless  men  and 
practices  that  first  overran  them;  thousands  of  communities 
godless,  vicious,  atheistic,  criminal,  without  churches,  ministers, 
Bibles,  sabbaths ;  rural  districts  cursed  by  brawls,  feuds,  brutal 
living,  and  filthy  speech;  mining  and  lumber  camps  dominated 
by  the  saloon,  the  dive,  the  gambling  den,  and  the  six-shooter; 
cities  such  hells  of  social  and  civic  debauchery  that  their  only 
hope  for  betterment  lay  in  vigilance-committees  and  lynch-law  — 
this  not  only  might  have  been,  it  actually  was  in  hundreds  of  in- 
stances just  what  occurred,  in  spite  of  herculean  efforts  to  the 
contrary.  Suppose  that,  instead  of  the  exception,  it  had  been 
the  rule,  a  condition  universal  and  unchecked  ! 

Over  against  this  let  us  recall  what  was  seen  happening  all 
over  the  land.  The  death-grapple  between  the  forces  of  wicked- 
ness and  Christianity,  the  church,  the  school,  the  Christian  home, 
the  reclaimed  life,  the  cleansed  town,  decency,  law,  order,  an 
elevated  social  standard,  with  higher  education,  philanthropy,  and 
reform  —  in  short.  Christian  civilization  with  its  myriad  whole- 
some influences,  peaceful,  pervasive,  powerful,  in  place  of  the 
ravages  of  barbarism. 

Magnificent  were  the  transformations  that  resulted  from  this 
struggle:  nearly  200,000  churches;  an  Evangelical  Protestant 
membership  that  increased  during  the  century  thirty-eight-fold 
to  the  nation's  twelve-fold,  or  more  than  three  times  as  fast  as  the 
population,  standing  in  a  proportion  of  one  church-member  to 
fourteen  citizens  at  the  opening  of  the  century  and  one  to  four  at 
its  close;  two  hundred  Christian  colleges  founded  and  nurtured 
by  home  missionary  pioneers,  with  more  than  fifty  per  cent,  of  their 
students  members  of  Christian  churches.     With  rare  exceptions 


5o6  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

the  early  presidents  of  these  Christian  colleges  were  home  mis- 
sionaries, as  were  also  the  majorities  of  their  boards  of  trustees. 
How  utterly  immeasurable  were  the  influences  thus  put  into  opera- 
tion, was  illustrated  by  a  computation  made  nearly  a  quarter  of  a 
century  ago,  when  it  was  shown  that  thirteen  of  these  Western 
institutions  had  up  to  that  time  supplied  3000  towns  with  minis- 
ters and  15,000  towns  with  30,000  teachers.  What  had  the  entire 
two  hundred  accomplished?  It  may  not  be  generally  known 
that  our  state  universities  also  were  quite  largely  the  outcome  of 
missionary  statesmanship  —  the  gift  indirectly  of  religion  to  the 
West,  as  the  public  school  system  had  been  the  gift  of  the  New 
England  Pilgrims  to  the  nation.  The  first  state  university  — 
the  model  for  many  a  later  one  —  was  planned  and  shaped  by 
home  missionaries  of  Michigan,  and  many  another  owes  its  origin, 
or  its  development  for  important  periods  of  its  life,  to  similar 
causes.  All  certainly  owe  their  high  moral  standards  to  the 
religious  influences  carefully  fostered  by  missionary  devotion  in 
their  respective  states.  From  home  missionary  ranks  in  some 
instances  were  drawn  the  presidents  of  these  institutions,  and  the 
superintendents  of  public  instruction  in  their  commonwealths. 

In  civic  affairs  these  leaders  were  equally  active.  The 
Ordinance  of  lySy,  declared  to  be  the  "birth  of  American 
Nationalism,"  as  it  first  outlined  our  form  of  territorial  govern- 
ment, was  chiefly  a  home  missionary's  product.  Home  missions 
saved  states  like  Illinois,  Kansas,  and  California  to  the  Union, 
and  from  mission  churches  in  the  North  and  West  one  fourth  of 
the  membership  went  to  the  front.  In  the  Dakotas  the  prohibi- 
tion of  the  liquor-traffic  and  the  driving  out  of  the  Louisiana 
Lottery  were  distinctly  home  missionary  victories.  The  unre- 
corded battles  in  scores  of  states,  in  legislatures,  in  conventions, 
in  thousands  of  towns  and  communities,  waged  often  single- 
handed  by  home  missionary  heroes  and  heroines  against 
intemperance,  vice,  low  ideals,  corruption  public  and  private, 
savagery,  ignorance,  and  materialism,  who  can  compute  ? 

Varied  as  were  the  activities  required  in  this  campaign  of 
expansion,  the  problem  was  further  complicated  by  the  widely 
different  types  and  conditions  of  life  that  were  encountered, 
calling  for  unwearied  resourcefulness  and  incessant  readjust- 
ments. The  cultured  East ;  the  rough  frontier ;  the  fiery  South ; 
the  sober  North;  the  Middle  West  town ;  the  hamlet  of  the  Moun- 


HOME    MlSSIOxNS    IN   THE    WEST  507 

tain  White ;  impulsive  Kansas ;  lethargic  ^Missouri ;  the  isolation 
of  the  huge  Dakota  ranch ;  the  cowboy  civilization  of  Texas ;  the 
Montana  range,  as  broad  as  a  European  state;  the  Mormon 
cancer ;  the  great  Black  Belt ;  the  savages  of  the  West  and  South ; 
the  Asiatics  of  the  coast ;  the  neglected  foreigner;  the  city  slum; 
the  greaser  and  the  gringo  of  Arizona  and  New  Mexico;  the 
gambling-camps  of  Nevada  and  Idaho;  the  lumber-camps  of 
Oregon  and  Washington;  the  coal-camps  of  the  Allcghanics  and 
the  Rockies  —  it  was  like  a  swiftly  changing  kaleidoscope.  Nor 
was  there  much  time  given  for  studying  these  conditions.  Every- 
thing was  tearing  along  at  a  breakneck  speed.  Often,  as  in  a 
stampede  of  cattle,  the  missionary  must  ride  with  the  crazed  herd, 
keep  from  under  its  hoofs,  while  he  endeavored  to  head  and  turn 
it  in  a  safe  direction.  Situations  broke  with  the  suddenness  and 
violence  of  a  cloudburst,  and  he  must  struggle  with  the  torrent 
and  regain  his  footing  as  best  he  could.  This  fierce  rush  seriously 
aggravated  the  dit^culties.  To  cover  a  wide  area,  even  though  it 
presented  most  diversified  conditions,  might  not  be  so  difficult,  if 
the  pace  were  a  moderate  one ;  but  with  unprecedented  swift- 
ness civilization  dashed  on. 

Contemporaneous  with  the  Home  Missionary  movement,  and 
throwing  into  and  behind  it  its  resistless  energy,  there  was  the 
astounding  liberation  of  the  modern  world-forces  for  national 
progress.  Not  a  rail  nor  an  engine  when  the  work  began ;  then 
steam,  with  its  thousands  of  uses  on  water  and  land ;  labor-saving 
machinery  for  farm,  plantation,  shop,  and  mill;  science  and  her 
myriad  inventions;  coal,  oil,  and  gas,  with  their  revolutions; 
the  telegraph,  telephone,  and  electric  power  for  locomotion, 
manufacture,  and  every  social  use.  At  a  furious  rate  the  country 
was  overrun  and  subdued;  twenty-nine  great  commonwealths 
were  organized,  "twenty-four  of  which  are  each  larger  than  all 
England."  Huge  realms  for  new^  activities  were  suddenly  opened 
in  business,  in  agriculture,  in  commerce,  in  education,  in  ex- 
ploration, in  transportation,  in  government.  Amidst  this  whirl 
of  interests,  this  rush  and  centering  of  power  in  material  forces 
and  conquests,  these  gigantic  changes  and  this  swift  development, 
Home  Missions  were  called  to  work  with  equal  haste,  energy,  and 
devotion,  to  establish  Christian  institutions,  to  grasp  big  enter- 
prises, to  shoulder  huge  responsibilities,  and  to  win  the  attention 
of  hurrying  men  and  civilizations  to  the  Gospel's  message  and  the 


5o8  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

nation's  higher  needs.  The  rapidity  with  which  all  this  had  to  be 
done  can  be  realized  better  when  we  remember  that  men  are 
living  who  have  seen  almost  the  entire  development  of  two  thirds 
of  the  area  of  the  Union.  In  1829  Chicago  had  "half  a  dozen 
families"  and  northern  Illinois  lay  an  "unbroken  wilderness.'* 
Des  Moines  in  1846  had  "twenty  persons,"  and  Omaha  in  1854 
had  "one  log-house."  Emigrant  ox-trains  gave  way  to  longer 
trains  of  steam.  In  1830  we  had  twenty-three  miles  of  railway. 
In  1905  these  had  grown  to  over  three  hundred  thousand  miles  of 
track,  transporting  double  the  merchandise  of  all  the  other  rail- 
roads in  the  world,  and  averaging  during  these  seventy-five  years 
a  yearly  increase  of  trackage  sufficient  to  cross  the  continent,  laid 
at  a  yearly  cost  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  millions  of  dollars. 
During  the  latter  half  of  the  century  we  added  to  our  farms  a 
daily  average  of  25,000  acres.  In  the  settlement  of  the  Dakotas 
"one  thousand  homesteads  a  day  were  taken  up  for  several  con- 
secutive weeks,"  and  congested  railroad  lines  refused  to  receive 
further  freight.  Two  hundred  thousand  home-seekers,  lined  up 
on  the  border,  at  a  given  signal  tore  madly  into  the  Cherokee 
Strip,  and  settled  a  state  in  a  night.  Our  telegraph  wires  would 
encircle  the  globe  more  than  sixty  times,  and  our  telephone  wires 
would  go  round  it  three  times  as  many  more.  The  population 
of  the  country  increased  during  the  century  twelve  hundred  per 
cent.  Figures  like  this  reveal  something  of  the  stress  of  the  work 
and  the  rapid  founding  of  churches  necessitated  by  the  rapid 
development.  Before  the  century  closed  four  hundred  millions 
of  dollars  had  been  spent  in  this  Home  Missionary  conquest  and 
probably  half  as  much  more  for  the  Christian  higher  education 
it  established. 

These  were  by  no  means  all  the  difficulties.  In  the  midst  of 
this  strenuous  struggle  there  broke  out  the  cruel  Civil  War.  The 
lines  were  sharply  drawn,  dividing  Baptists,  Methodists,  and 
Presbyterians  into  antagonistic  camps,  and  driving  every  Congre- 
gational missionary  north  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  Line.  Attention 
was  focused  on  the  War  and  its  exciting  issues.  In  some 
churches  not  an  able-bodied  man  remained.  Education  as  well 
as  religion  suffered;  colleges  and  churches  were  half  emptied. 
For  ten  years  these  bitter  differences  and  absorbing  questions 
almost  paralyzed  the  missionary  movement.  That  a  border  state 
like  Kansas,  repeatedly  ravaged,  torn,  and  desperately  hurt,  can 


HOME   MISSIONS   IN  THE   WEST  509 

show  to-day  three  thousand  Protestant  churches  and  one  fourth 
of  her  population  enrolled  in  their  membership,  shows  the  vitality 
of  these  religious  forces  so  roughly  arrested  by  civil  strife. 

The  sins  and  sorrows  of  this  bloody  struggle,  grave  as  they  were, 
were  however  light  in  comparison  with  the  problems  that  the  War 
left  on  our  hands.  Intensified  by  bitter  antagonisms  and  mis- 
understandings, and  goaded  by  dark  fears,  the  passions  of  race- 
hatred and  caste-prejudice,  that,  hitherto  practically  unaroused  in 
America,  had  been  sleeping  under  the  mantle  of  slavery,  woke 
to  a  frenzied  life.  The  severest  strain  of  expansion  among  a 
homogeneous  people  was  nothing  to  this.  It  was  the  most 
difficult  task  yet  encountered  —  in  the  face  of  a  cruel  ostracism 
on  the  one  side,  and  a  dense  degradation  on  the  other,  to  fit 
millions  of  enfranchized  blacks  for  American  citizenship  and 
other  millions  of  whites  for  the  duties  of  Christian  brotherhood. 
Without  fear  or  hesitation  the  missionary  forces  faced  the  emer- 
gency ;  common  schools,  normal  schools,  industrial  schools,  col- 
leges, and  churches  were  rapidly  opened.  Through  thousands 
of  trained  students  powerful  influences  for  industrial  and  moral 
advancement  were  brought  into  play.  The  results  have  been  most 
remarkable.  What  has  been  done,  however,  is  but  a  beginning. 
Long  after  we  have  solved  the  puzzles  of  Home  Missions  that 
arise  among  the  white  races  that  are  with  us,  will  this  black 
tangle  continue  to  be  our  Gordian  knot.  It  is  no  longer  ex- 
clusively a  Southern  concern.  It  has  spread  to  every  state  and 
city  in  the  Union. 

Great  as  it  is,  the  negro  question  is  after  all  but  a  part,  al- 
though a  chief  part,  of  our  racial  problem.  In  1850  we  were 
comparatively  a  homogeneous  people.  In  1900  we  were  the 
greatest  racial  amalgam  on  the  earth,  having  absorbed  into  our 
national  life  a  third  of  our  population  from  foreign  sources.  The 
assimilation  of  twenty-five  millions  of  people,  speaking  sixty  or 
more  different  languages,  gathering  from  every  quarter  of  the 
world,  with  diverse  faiths,  views,  training,  habits,  and  prejudices, 
is  alone  a  task  sufficient  for  a  century  of  Christian  effort  by  a 
Christian  nation.  Since  the  great  migrations,  by  which  savage 
hordes  in  the  past  overran  empires  and  swept  away  civilizations, 
no  country  has  had  to  face  such  an  invasion  as  the  immigration, 
first  from  northern  Europe,  then  from  southern  Europe  and  Asia, 
threw  on  our  shores.     Breaking  from  life-long  associations  and 


Sio  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

restraints,  bewildered  by  new  conditions  and  larger  freedom, 
alienated  from  a  state  religion  with  its  formal  rites,  many  of 
them  already  savages  of  society,  hating  Church  and  State  because 
of  smarting  wrongs,  these  immigrants  settled  in  great  masses 
in  our  cities,  forming  frequently  the  majorities  of  their  popula- 
tions, finding  there  almost  perfect  isolation  from  our  citizenship, 
furnishing  three  times  more  criminals  and  paupers  than  the  na- 
tive American  stock,  and  thus  suddenly  opening  a  new  and  most 
perplexing  field  for  Home  Missions.  Many  were  reached  by  the 
denominational  life  that  followed  them  across  the  sea ;  others  by 
the  American  churches  from  which  they  at  first  seemed  to  be 
so  hopelessly  separated.  As  rapidly  as  men  could  be  trained, 
missions  were  opened  in  every  quarter  of  our  land.  In  the 
proclamation  of  the  Gospel,  America  is  the  most  polyglot  nation 
on  the  earth.  The  Pentecostal  hearing  —  "every  man  in  his 
own  tongue"  — is  repeated  in  this  nation  on  a  far  larger  scale 
every  Lord's  Day  in  the  year.  Thousands  of  churches  now 
minister  to  the  needs  of  these  "strangers  within  our  gates." 

Side  by  side  with  these  great  movements  there  had  been 
steadily  growing  another  problem  more  complex  than  any, 
gathering  up  into  itself  the  evils  and  dangers  of  all  the  others, 
but  with  corresponding  possibilities  of  ethical  power,  if  rightly 
controlled,  namely  the  congestion  of  our  population.  In  1800  but 
four  per  cent,  of  our  people  were  found  in  cities.  In  1900  thirty- 
three  per  cent,  were  there.  In  a  few  years  more  than  half  of  our 
population  will  be  urban.  Already  fifteen  states  have  a  majority 
of  their  people  in  cities,  and  eight  of  these  have  increased  this 
proportion  to  two  thirds.  In  1850  less  than  half  the  nation's 
wealth  was  in  her  cities.  Now  three  fourths  of  it  is  there.  Here 
the  rapidity  of  growth  is  greatest,  the  social  and  racial  distinctions 
most  marked;  here  foreigners  swarm  and  settle;  here  vices, 
diseases,  corruptions,  and  oppressions  flourish.  It  seemed,  there- 
fore, that  the  dangers  which  accompanied  expansion,  class-feeling, 
emigration,  and  the  massing  of  anti-Christian  forces,  had  in  the 
city  merged  themselves,  with  rejuvenated  life  and  greater  pro- 
portions, into  the  most  formidable  opposition  the  churches  had 
encountered.  Already  dominant  in  wealth  and  every  material 
influence,  the  city  will  soon  excel  in  population,  and  we  shall 
become  "a  nation  of  cities,"  for  it  seems  evident  that  the 
tendencies  producing  this  congestion  are  steadily  to  increase 


HOME    MISSIONS    IN   THE    WEST  511 

rather  than  decrease.  It  is  also  apparent  that  these  tendencies 
are  naturally  materialistic,  emphasizing  and  building  the  physical 
rather  than  the  spiritual  elements  of  society.  Here  the  Home 
and  the  Church,  the  two  great  moral  forces,  are  three  times  as 
weak  as  in  the  country,  and  growing  weaker  rather  than  stronger. 
Like  Catling  guns  trained  on  dense  masses,  evils  work  the  greatest 
havoc  amid  the  compact,  complex  life  of  the  city.  Self-govern- 
ment here  has  been  "the  one  conspicuous  failure  of  our  Ameri- 
can institutions."  High  moral  standards  are  far  more  difficult 
of  attainment  in  such  mixed  aggregations.  Democratic  govern- 
ment is  based  on  mutual  interests,  and  must  have  homogeneous 
elements;  but  the  American  city  is  one  of  the  most  heterogeneous 
masses  imaginable,  frequently  having  more  than  one  half  of  its 
male  population  of  voting  age  foreign  by  birth.  Thus,  the  more 
powerful  it  grows,  the  weaker  it  becomes  for  self-mastery  and 
self-direction. 

The  city  with  its  strata  of  society,  its  congested  poverty  and 
wealth,  its  lack  of  social  coherence,  its  heartless  isolations,  its 
intrenched  evils,  fascinating  temptations,  changing  population, 
its  pleasure-seeking  selfishness,  its  lack  of  moral  restraint,  must, 
if  left  to  itself,  prove  our  swift  destruction.  The  city,  with  its 
massing  of  energy,  intelligence,  resources,  its  possibilities  of  co- 
operation, its  gigantic  forces,  can,  if  saved,  become  our  moral 
power-house.  So  suddenly  has  it  been  evolved,  and  so  complex  is 
its  life,  that  it  has  taken  the  Christian  forces  of  the  land  somewhat 
by  surprise.  Men  live  who  have  seen  Chicago  grow  from  a 
hamlet  to  a  city  of  millions.  Fifty  years  have  seen  the  rise  of 
New  York  to  her  present  greatness.  She  is  said  to  be  the  greatest 
Irish  city  in  the  world ;  the  greatest  Italian  city  in  the  world ;  the 
greatest  Jewish  city  in  the  world,  with  fifteen  times  the  Jewish 
population  of  Jerusalem,  and  ten  times  the  Jewish  population  of 
all  Palestine;  and  the  greatest  German  city  in  the  world,  with  the 
exception  of  Berlin.  Her  tenement  population,  forming  two 
thirds  of  the  whole,  is  larger  than  the  combined  population  of 
Maine,  Vermont,  New  Hampshire,  and  Connecticut ;  larger  than 
the  population  of  any  one  of  thirty-six  of  our  states.  The  in- 
crease of  her  population  last  year  was  equal  to  the  total  increase 
of  all  the  states  west  of  the  Mississippi  River.  If  her  churches 
were  crowded  any  Sunday,  there  would  still  be  three  millions  who 
could  not  get  seats.    While  New  York  is  not  a  Western  city,  she 


512  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

is  the  most  striking  example  of  this  problem  of  congestion  which 
is  confronting  every  state  in  the  Union.  The  great  problem  of 
early  Home  Missions  was  unchurched  territory;  and  while  in 
large  measure  this  still  presses  us  in  the  West,  the  greater  problem 
of  Home  Missions  to-day  is  unchurched  populations.  Christian- 
ity has  conquered  the  savage  of  the  forest  and  the  plains;  it  must 
now  conquer  a  creature  more  degraded  and  defiant,  the  savage 
of  the  city  slum,  the  legitimate  degenerate  of  a  materialistic 
civilization,  as  ignorant  of  the  Gospel  as  a  Hottentot,  and  requir- 
ing a  like  long,  patient  training. 

As  rapidly  as  she  could  re-form  her  forces,  the  Church  attacked 
this  new  position.  She  is  proving  herself  the  most  powerful 
and  effective  institution  for  the  regeneration  of  the  city.  Large 
parts  of  the  problem  are  still  unsolved.  Financial  necessity 
compels  her  to  reach  out  first  for  the  residence  sections  of  the 
city — by  far  the  largest  as  well  as  the  most  stable  and  important 
regions  —  neighborhoods  best  able  and  willing  to  help  them- 
selves, and  most  easily  served  by  the  methods  and  machinery  at 
her  command.  She  has  very  efficiently  supplied  these  with 
church-privileges.  Her  Church  Extension  Societies  are  doing  a 
colossal  and  necessary  defensive  work.  The  down-town  sections, 
however,  have  been  her  despair.  Here  old  methods  of  attack  have 
failed.  A  new  adjustment  is  necessary.  The  message  of  indi- 
vidual salvation — long  preached  as  the  sole  cure  of  all  social  and 
civic  ills  as  well  —  is  now  seen  to  strike  but  one  grand  chord  among 
the  many  rich  tones  that  make  up  a  true  social  symphony.  Sec- 
tarianism, which,  with  all  its  contemptible  brood  of  unbrotherly 
strifes,  yet  did  help  rapidly  to  plant  the  Church  throughout  the 
national  area,  now  stands  abashed  before  the  new  social  vision,  and 
powerless  before  a  task  that  requires  the  united  forces  of  Chris- 
tendom. Through  modest  missions  and  ill-equipped  halls,  heroic 
attempts  at  personal  rescue  have  been  made.  But  for  social  bet- 
terment the  equipment  and  the  results  have  been  meager.  Suc- 
cessful experiments,  however,  are  pointing  to  the  coming  solution. 
Social  settlements  and  institutional  churches  have  blazed  a  new 
trail  through  the  thick  undergrowth  of  the  city.  A  great  highway 
is  to  follow.  The  work  is  difficult,  expensive,  and  baffling, 
dealing  with  transients  and  unfortunates,  who  either  fall  back 
into  the  old  sin,  or,  gaining  their  feet,  seek  the  better  surroundings 
and  more  permanent  forms  of  Christianity  represented  in  the 


HOME   MISSIONS   IN  THE  WEST  513 

family,  suburban  church.  While  some  splendid  and  costly 
plants  have  been  established,  which  are  doing  magnificent  work, 
it  remains  generally  true  that  no  single  denomination  has  the  re- 
sources adequately  to  meet  the  huge  needs  of  our  city  slums  by 
establishing  institutions  strongly  enough  equipped  to  conserve 
these  gains  and  gather  resources  for  permanence  and  expansion. 
Home  Missions  now  face  the  new  social  crisis.  These  experi- 
mental efforts  show  us  that,  only  by  the  application  of  the  social 
teachings  and  life  of  Jesus  to  disordered  society,  and  by  a  union 
of  these  socialized  forces  in  the  broader  Christian  spirit  that  such 
union  produces,  can  we  successfully  prosecute  the  expensive 
campaign  for  the  redemption  of  the  city  —  combining  the  church, 
the  settlement,  and  the  rescue  mission  with  the  law  and  the  school 
in  a  great  scale  of  work.  The  complex  elements  in  the  problem 
are  beyond  the  unaided  power  of  the  Christian  Church.  They 
require  the  cooperation  of  the  Christian  State.  Not  until  the 
State  does  her  fair  share  in  cleaning  up  the  moral  evils,  for  the 
existence  of  which  she  is  chiefly  responsible,  and  cooperates  with 
the  forces  of  righteousness,  rather  than  the  saloon,  the  dive,  and 
the  corrupt  politician,  will  our  slums  be  drained,  our  efforts  be 
made  effective,  and  the  hope  of  a  permanent  and  complete 
betterment  be  justified.  But  this  the  State  will  do  only  under  the 
inspiration  of  a  unified  Christianity :  she  will  join  hands  with  no 
sect.  A  better  day  is  before  the  great  Home  Missionary  propa- 
ganda. From  the  cooperation  of  denominations  there  is  yet  to 
arise  a  mixture  as  wholesome  and  strong  as  from  the  intermin- 
gling of  race  bloods.  The  democratic  Christian  bodies  that  have 
stood  for  comity  and  union  against  the  narrow  practices  of  cere- 
monialistsand  the  hierarchical  and  episcopal  forms  of  church-life, 
which  have  "made  the  greatest  claims  to  Catholicity  and  ever 
showed  the  least  of  it,"  are  surely  winning  their  way.  The  laity 
have  little  use  for  sectarianism.  Our  young  people  have  learned 
to  despise  it.  Our  various  Home  Missionary  boards  are  uniting 
their  forces  for  mutual  counsel,  for  comity  and  combinations  of 
service.  Our  churches  are  calling  for  federation.  Home  Missions 
in  the  future  will  be  a  broad  brotherly  Christianity,  repudiating 
ecclesiastical  selfishness,  formalism,  and  arrogance,  and  fusing 
the  forces  for  national  evangelization  into  the  only  power  that  can 
lead  in  the  cleansing  of  the  city  and  the  guidance  of  the  nation  in 
the  great  social  transformations  that  are  being  ushered  in. 


514  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

The  industrial  revolution,  with  its  prodigious  accumulations 
of  wealth  and  woe,  and  its  wonderfully  complicated  social  perils 
that  have  arisen  from  the  attempt  to  adjust  "  an  autocratic  system 
of  industry  to  a  democratic  system  of  government,"  has  made  of 
us  a  new  nation.  Although  great  beyond  compare  has  been  the 
work  of  Home  Missions,  this  marvelous  material  advance  has 
hardly  been  matched  by  an  equal  intellectual  and  spiritual 
progress.  This  inevitably  dooms  us,  if  not  quickly  balanced  by 
higher  ideals,  to  a  deteriorated  civilization.  How  to  head  up 
this  material  gain  into  moral  and  spiritual  power  is  the  supreme 
question.  Our  business  men,  accustomed  to  enormous  outlays 
in  industry,  are  yet  generally  content  with  pitifully  meager  ex- 
penditures in  religion.  Our  churches  are  hardly  awake  to  the 
meaning  of  this  new  day  of  brotherhood.  Our  greatest  danger 
and  our  greatest  opportunity  again  lie  before  us — a  continent 
surging  with  new  social  forces,  areas  swiftly  covered  by  new  social 
ideals,  social  crises  as  sharp  and  sudden  as  any  transformations 
of  the  past.  Again  do  we  face  the  problems  of  expansion,  of 
acceleration,  of  complexity,  of  congestion,  calling  for  sacrifice 
of  life  and  treasure  in  the  vastly  more  complex  and  critical  social 
sphere.  Nor  is  it  now  confined  to  a  continent.  Our  fathers 
worked  to  build  a  new  nation.  We  are  called  to  make  a  new 
world.  The  last  decade  has  pushed  us  into  the  front  rank  of 
Great  Powers.  Greater  changes  are  coming.  Europe,  Asia,  and 
Africa  are  heaving  under  industrial  ferment.  Hoary  beliefs  and 
customs  are  being  swept  away  by  new  social  forces.  Inter- 
national mingling  of  races  and  thought  binds  the  world  in  sym- 
pathetic touch.  The  socialistic  movement  around  the  earth  is 
one.  The  danger  is  that,  through  lack  of  intelligent  sympathy  or 
through  unwise  opposition,  the  leaders  of  the  Church  may  allow 
a  movement  in  spirit  and  principle  essentially  Christian  to  be  as 
thoroughly  preoccupied  by  unworthy  elements  —  by  adventurers 
and  agitators,  by  demagogues  and  criminals,  by  atheists  and 
selfish  materialists  —  as  was  ever  this  fair  land  by  the  early 
forces  of  wickedness. 

The  greatest  work  of  Home  Missions  is  plainly  before  us. 
Signs  abound  of  the  awakening  of  Christian  laymen  to  its  im- 
portance. Money  will  yet  be  poured  forth  with  a  generosity 
equal  to  the  self-sacrifice  of  our  Home  Missionary  fathers. 
Throughout  this  great  western  nation  and  around  the  shores  of  the 


HOME    MISSIONS    IN   THE    WEST  515 

Pacific  Sea,  with  her  waking  peoples  and  her  untouched  resources, 
there  must  be  developed  the  Christianity  of  a  new  social  order, 
a  movement  under  Christ  for  "the  civilization  of  the  brotherly- 
man,"  an  order  that  will  aim  for  a  regenerated  society  as  well  as  a 
renewed  individual,  an  order  that  in  its  economic  life  will  cease  to 
deny  every  fraternal  principle  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven.  And 
true  to  her  past  and  present  history  will  American  Home  Mis- 
sions, through  a  socialized,  sacrificial  Church,  be  found  meeting, 
in  city  and  field,  the  new  social  obligations,  thus  laying  broad  and 
deep  the  foundations  of  a  world-wide  Kingdom  of  God,  and  help- 
ing to  usher  in  its  Millennium  of  peace  and  universal  good- will/ 

'  For  larger  treatment  of  the  facts  gathered  for  this  review,  the  reader  is  referred 
to  Clark's  Leavening  the  Nation,  Strong's  The  Challenge  of  the  City,  Beardsley's 
Christian  Achievement  in  America,  and  Roosevelt's  Winning  of  the  West. 


CHRISTIAN   WORK  AMONG    IMMIGRANTS 

Rev.  Herbert  Chandler  Ide,  M.A.,  B.D. 
First  Congregational  Church,  Mt.  Vernon,  N.Y. 

Competent  estimators  place  the  total  number  of  immigrants 
now  in  the  United  States  at  over  nineteen  millions.  Besides 
these  the  ancestors  of  some  millions  more  have  come  to  America 
within  the  limits  of  our  seventy-five-year  period.  The  census 
for  1900  shows  that  over  one  third  of  the  people  in  the  country 
at  large,  and  over  one  half  of  the  dwellers  in  the  cities,  are  of 
foreign  parentage.  As  the  recent  immigration  rate  of  over  a 
million  a  year  is  likely  to  grow  rather  than  diminish  in  the  im- 
mediate future,  it  is  clear  not  only  that  all  our  domestic  mis- 
sionary agencies  have  had  tremendous  tasks  and  opportunities 
thrust  upon  them  in  this  on-coming  army  of  aliens,  but  also  that 
the  immigrants  and  their  children  will  make  even  more  exact- 
ing demands  in  the  future. 

Up  to  1840  the  total  immigration  had  not  been  over  500,000. 
The  country's  population  was  substantially  of  one  blood,  with 
homogeneous  institutions  and  religious  ideals.  But  during  the 
period  from  1840  to  1870  we  received  not  less  than  600,000, 
mostly  from  Ireland  and  Germany,  of  different  ideals  and  blood. 
The  Irish  were  generally  Roman  Catholics,  and  the  American 
Catholic  Church  was  so  unequal  to  the  task  of  caring  for  such 
overwhelming  numbers  that  a  Catholic  authority  estimates  that 
his  Church  lost  its  hold  on  twenty  million  people  through  its 
unreadiness.  The  Germans  were  largely  Lutheran,  so  far  as  they 
were  anything;  and,  settling  in  the  West,  built  the  Lutheran 
into  one  of  the  leading  denominations,  though  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  much  irreligion  has  characterized  the  Germans  in 
America. 

Since  1870  the  tides  from  southern  and  eastern  Europe  and 
from  Asia  have  steadily  risen,  bringing  yet  stranger  and  more 
dangerous  elements,  and  presenting  problems  with  which  only 
the  wisest  and  most  vigorous  Christian  efforts  can  cope.  The 
fear  of  imported  barbarism  has  for  years  been  growing  to  be  one 

516 


CHRISTIAN   WORK   AMONG   IMMIGRANTS     517 

of  the  dominant  concerns  of  American  missionary  societies. 
All  branches  of  the  Church  have  been  wakening  to  the  need,  and 
are  now  very  generally  enlisted  in  multitudinous  forms  of  work 
for  every  sort  of  foreigner.  Their  leaders  are  alert,  and  are 
urging  and  directing  even  more  vigorous  and  far-reaching  effort. 
This  situation  in  America  has  been  a  new  one  in  the  history  of 
Christianity,  and  has  meant  the  blazing  of  new  trails,  the  con- 
fronting and  solving  of  new  problems  for  whose  solution  no 
precedents  existed. 

The  Christians  of  America  have  never  entirely  ignored 
the  needs  of  the  newcomers;  and,  according  to  their  ability, 
have,  since  the  heavy  immigration  began,  been  seriously  and 
increasingly  concerned  with  the  problem  as  the  problem  has 
grown.  Just  when  the  home  missionary  societies  or  churches, 
however,  first  began  specific  work  for  foreigners,  we  cannot  tell, 
for  no  definite  record  exists ;  but  the  history  of  the  interdenomi- 
national American  Bible  Society  shows  the  continual  alertness 
of  the  Churches  to  the  changing  situation,  and  their  sense  of 
responsibility  for  the  needs  of  the  new  arrivals.  As  early  as 
1819,  the  Bible  Society  made  a  grant  to  the  Methodist  Mission- 
ary Society  for  French  and  Spanish  Testaments  for  its  work  in 
Florida.  Bibles  in  these  languages  and  in  German  were  soon 
demanded  elsewhere,  and  by  1830  were  distributed  in  six  lan- 
guages. In  1857  Bibles  in  twenty-six  tongues  were  given  to 
foreigners.     To-day  over  seventy  dialects  are  used. 

The  great  development  of  organized  work,  the  establishing 
of  foreign-work  departments  by  the  missionary  societies,  the 
creation  of  agencies  for  immigrant  help,  the  founding  of  schools 
to  train  native  leaders,  and  the  vast  growth  of  foreign-speaking 
churches  —  all  these  are  of  comparatively  recent  origin,  coin- 
cident with  the  growing  immigration  of  the  last  thirty  years. 
During  this  time  the  number  of  agencies  which  have  come  into 
being,  and  the  multiplicity  of  their  labors,  are  bewildering. 

Among  missionary  societies  the  Baptists  probably  deserve 
credit  for  the  first  definite  appointments.  In  1836  they  began 
among  the  Welsh  in  Pennsylvania,  and  ten  years  later  appointed 
a  German  missionary,  then  a  Scandinavian,  and  in  1849  ^  French 
one.  In  1883  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society  formally 
organized  German,  Slavic,  and  Scandinavian  departments  to 
develop  work  which  had  been  going  on  for  years  under  its  care. 


5i8  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

Now,  after  twenty-five  years,  these  have  brought  forth  a  large 
crop  of  missions,  Sunday-schools,  churches,  schools,  and  colleges, 
while  similar  work  has  been  established,  as  fast  as  opportunity 
offered,  among  many  other  nationalities. 

A  similar  expansion  of  foreign  work  has  gone  on  well-nigh 
contemporaneously  among  Presbyterians,  Methodists,  Episco- 
palians, Reformed,  and  others.  The  remarkable  results  of 
these  activities  may  be  studied  in  the  impressive  figures  in  the 
yearly  reports  of  the  several  societies.  Accurate  measurement 
of  missionary  results,  however,  is  never  possible,  and  is  specially 
uncertain  here,  from  the  tendency  of  children  of  foreign  parents, 
educated  in  our  schools  and  in  constant  contact  with  the  children 
of  native  stock,  to  gravitate  to  the  English-speaking  churches. 
So  the  religious  amalgamation  proceeds  hopefully,  but  often 
without  observation. 

Protestant  churches  by  the  thousand  have  been  planted  all 
over  the  country,  and  their  total  clientele  is  gratifying.  The 
Christian  churches  have  undeniably  found  the  true  solution  of 
the  immigrant  problem  which  so  frightened  them  a  generation 
ago.  They  have  by  no  means  fully  used  the  means  in  their 
power,  but  they  have  learned  the  way  towards  hope  for  the  future. 
Where  thirty  years  ago  scarcely  a  missionary  speaking  a  foreign 
language  was  at  work,  the  number  to-day  is  in  the  thousands. 
They  are  preaching  and  teaching  in  every  language  used  by  any 
considerable  body  of  immigrants,  and  are  gathering  them  into 
churches.  Results  have  surpassed  the  most  sanguine  hopes.  We 
know  to-day  that  every  breed  of  foreigner  is  responsive  to  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Christian  religion.  It  has  been  shown  ^  that  whereas 
in  1800,  when  home  missions  began  in  the  United  States,  there 
was  one  Evangelical  church  communicant  in  14.50  of  popula- 
tion, the  ratio  has  steadily  changed,  until  in  1900  it  was  one  in 
4.25.  This  means  that  within  the  nineteenth  century  church- 
membership  increased  three  and  a  half  times  faster  than  popu- 
lation. We  cannot  doubt  that  much  of  this  remarkable  im- 
provement is  due  to  Christian  work  for  immigrants.  In  Dr. 
Dorchester's  words:  ''This  exhibit  of  religious  progress  cannot 
be  paralleled  in  the  history  of  God's  Kingdom,  in  any  land  or  in 
any  age." 

*  By  Dr.  J.  B.  Clark  in  the  new  Schaff-Herzog  Dictionary,  "Home  Mis- 


CHRISTIAN   WORK   AMONG   IMMIGRANTS     519 

In  addition  to  means  already  indicated,  the  missionary,  Bible 
and  tract  societies,  volunteer  missionary  agencies,  social  and 
patriotic  societies,  are  engaged  in  varied  work  extending  from 
the  ports  of  entry,  through  the  great  cities  where  immigrants 
congregate,  out  to  the  far  frontier.  The  average  alien  is  never 
beyond  their  sphere  of  interest  and  help  from  the  day  when  he 
sets  foot  in  the  new  land.  He  is  met  at  the  port  by  representa- 
tives of  these  societies,  greeted  kindly  in  his  own  tongue,  offered 
advice  and  sympathy,  furnished  Bibles  and  Christian  literature, 
assisted  if  in  trouble,  helped  aboard  his  train,  and  perhaps 
introduced  by  letter  to  a  missionary  or  pastor  in  the  place  whither 
he  is  bound.  All  proper,  non-proselyting  services  to  foreigners 
are  welcomed  by  the  immigration  authorities.  Practically  every 
denominational  missionary  society,  with  many  others,  has  one 
or  many  representatives  at  Ellis  Island,  where  four  fifths  of  the 
newcomers  land.  Similar  work  is  done  in  the  ports  of  Boston, 
Philadelphia,  and  Baltimore.  Immigrant  homes  are  maintained, 
and  everything  in  reason  is  done  for  those  who  enter. 

The  tireless  colporteur  follows  the  immigrant  to  the  remotest 
hamlet  of  the  West  with  Christian  literature,  shows  Christian 
friendship,  creates  an  atmosphere  favorable  to  Christian  teaching, 
and  often  starts  missions.  In  the  great  cities  evangelistic  work 
in  open  air,  tents,  and  halls,  adapted  in  method  and  language 
to  win  the  foreigner,  has  met  very  encouraging  results,  es- 
pecially among  the  children.  Sunday-schools,  maintained  by 
missionary  societies  and  churches  in  foreign  districts,  introduce 
the  children  to  the  teachings  of  the  Protestant  faith,  and  often 
grow  into  churches  or  lead  to  affiliation  with  other  churches. 
Churches  for  foreigners,  fostered  by  native  churches  or  mission 
societies,  often  grow  to  be  strong  and  self-sustaining,  adjusting 
themselves  to  changing  conditions  in  the  matter  of  language 
and  customs. 

Everywhere  we  find  well-equipped  boys'  and  girls'  clubs,  the 
Salvation  Army,  social  settlements,  and  social  service  institu- 
tions attaining  large  results.  Not  the  least  is  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  which  reaches  out  everywhere  after  the 
foreigner.  The  national  committee  is  now  planning  to  have 
its  agents  abroad  meet  foreigners  in  the  ports  of  embarkation, 
render  assistance  as  required,  and  direct  them  into  similar  care 
on  this  side.     It  aims  to  save  them  from  crooks,  give  reliable 


520  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

advice,  introduce  them  to  Christian  workers  in  their  new  homes, 
and  to  give  instruction  in  civics,  Enghsh,  and  industrial  matters. 
Recently  the  Pennsylvania  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
sent  young  men  abroad  to  study  the  foreigner  in  his  home,  to 
prepare  for  work  in  the  mining  towns.  Others  are  about  to 
follow  their  example.  Training-schools  for  leaders  among  the 
aliens,  like  the  International  American  College  at  Springfield, 
Mass.,  and  the  Schauffler  Training  School  in  Cleveland,  are 
doing  strategic  service. 

A  single  church  is  an  example  of  what  many  of  our  strong 
native  churches  are  undertaking  alone  or  jointly.  This  church 
has  faced  the  successive  waves  of  immigrants  and  welcomed 
them.  Earlier  layers  of  English  and  Scotch  were  easily  as- 
similated. The  Germans  next  found  a  home  beneath  its  hos- 
pitable roof.  When  their  numbers  increased,  they  organized  for 
themselves,  though  many  remained  behind,  preferring  the  Eng- 
lish services  and  usages  to  which  they  had  grown  accustomed. 
These  comprise  a  strong  element  in  the  church's  body  to-day. 
Three  German  churches  have  grown  indirectly  from  this  swarm- 
ing. Many  of  their  children  still  return  to  the  old  Sunday- 
school,  and  a  stream  of  them  trickles  into  the  parent  church's 
membership.  The  later  Swedish  story  is  similar.  Three 
Swedish  churches,  whose  first  nuclei  were  for  years  cared  for 
by  the  old  church,  now  have  their  own  strong  and  successful 
organized  churches.  The  same  church  now  reaches  out  to  Chi- 
nese, Italians,  Persians,  Syrians,  Armenians,  and  Poles,  some  of 
whom  will  doubtless  soon  be  ready  for  independency.  The  pro- 
portion of  foreigners  has  never  been  large  enough  to  swamp  the 
parent  church,  though  their  total  is  large ;  but,  on  the  contrary, 
they  have  enlarged  its  vision,  and  have  given  their  own  lives  to 
its  up-building.  Meantime  the  church  has  learned  some  prime 
lessons  in  Christian  service.  The  earlier  stages  of  this  mis- 
sionizing  process  are  marked  by  classes  in  English,  Sunday- 
school  classes,  employment  agencies,  etc.  Where  numbers 
warrant,  services  are  held  in  their  own  languages,  under  the 
shelter  of  the  foster-parent  church.  As  a  result  of  the  varied 
missionary  work  for  foreigners,  the  state  of  Connecticut  has 
to-day  over  thirty  nationalities  represented  in  the  membership 
of  its  Congregational  churches,  and  it  is  estimated  that  not  less 
than  one  sixth  of  the  total  membership  is  of  foreign  parentage. 


CHRISTIAN   WORK   AMONG   IMMIGRANTS     521 

Many  now  believe  that  this  assimilative  church-missionary 
method  is  the  best  way  for  our  churches  to  meet  the  need  in  places 
where  foreigners  are  mingled  with  the  population.  The  people 
are  roused  to  the  alien  problem  in  relation  to  our  churches.  The 
alien  is  already  in  them,  and  at  the  present  rate  of  alien  advance, 
if  he  is  not  gotten  into  them,  there  will  soon  be  nobody  in  them. 
Churches  are  opening  their  doors  and  giving  their  best.  Min- 
isters are  learning  to  be  their  own  foreign  pastors  and  mastering 
foreign  languages.  Seminaries  are  sending  students  abroad  to 
study  the  alien  in  his  home,  and  to  lit  them  for  their  coming 
duties.  Missions  are  reaching  the  children  in  the  plastic  age. 
The  people  are  slowly  learning  to  treat  the  alien  like  a  man  and 
a  brother,  to  respect  his  abilities,  to  cease  from  contempt,  and 
to  conquer  prejudice,  and  garlic. 

It  is  likely  that  denominations  will  come  to  cooperate  in  the 
preparation  of  literature,  the  training  of  workers,  and  in  social 
efforts.  Several  churches  in  a  community  can  manage  prob- 
lems that  would  stagger  one.  Divisive  ecclesiastical  passions 
w'ill  be  lost  in  common  service  to  the  stranger.  It  may 
also  be  that  up-town  pastures  will  call  less  persuasively  to  old 
churches  in  down-town  slums,  and  that  they  will  stay  where  the 
battle  is,  where  men  are,  and  will  open  their  conservative  pews 
to  fill  them  with  people  of  alien  blood,  but  who  need  Christ's 
Gospel.  Let  them  build  the  old  plants  bigger,  lengthen  their 
cords,  strengthen  their  stakes,  go  out  after  the  foreigner.  It 
may  be  that  in  so  doing  some  will  save  their  own  lives. 


X.    FOREIGN    MISSIONS 

THEORY  AND   METHOD   OF   FOREIGN 
MISSIONS 

Rev.  James  Levi  Barton,  D.D. 
Secretary,  A.B.C.F.M.,  Boston,  Mass. 

In  1834,  when  Hartford  Seminary  was  founded,  the  words 
"foreign  missions"  did  not  convey  the  same  meaning  that  they 
carry  to-day.  At  that  time  there  were  only  five  foreign  missionary 
societies  upon  the  American  continent,  two  of  which  had  merely 
completed  their  organization.  The  three  that  were  in  operation 
were  the  American  Board,  organized  in  1810,  the  Baptist  Mis- 
sionary Union,  organized  in  18 14,  and  the  Mission  Board  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  formed  in  1819.  The  main  field 
of  labor  of  these  boards  was  among  the  North  American  Indians. 
The  Methodist  Board  had  only  one  mission  abroad,  namely,  in 
Liberia;  and  expended  in  1833, for  all  its  work,  less  than  $36,000. 
The  Baptist  Union  had  work  in  India,  Siam,  Burma,  Liberia  and 
France,  and  spent  in  the  same  year  for  everything  $63,551. 
The  American  Board  had  missions  in  South  and  West  Africa, 
Turkey,  Persia,  Western  India,  Ceylon,  Sandwich  Islands, 
Singapore,  Patagonia,  Greece,  and  had  that  year  opened  a  mis- 
sion in  China.  This  last-named  board  had  one  hundred  and 
twenty-two  missionaries  upon  its  rolls  in  foreign  lands,  and 
one  hundred  and  thirty  in  addition  working  among  the  American 
Indians.  The  total  receipts  of  the  American  Board  for  1833 
were  $152,386.  When  Hartford  Seminary  was  founded,  "for- 
eign missions"  meant  primarily  work  for  the  aborigines  of  our 
own  country.  In  Europe,  some  of  them  already  recognized  as 
powerful  organizations,  there  were  eleven  foreign  missionary 
societies. 

In  order  to  make  evident  the  wonderful  growth,  during  the 
intervening  seventy-five  years,  in  the  number  and  strength  of  the 
foreign  missionary  movements  of  North  America,  it  will  be  suf- 

522 


THEORY  AND  METHOD  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS   523 

ficient  to  state  that  there  are  now  at  least  ninety-eight  foreign 
mission  organizations  in  the  United  States  and  Canada,  carrying 
on  their  operations  almost  exclusively  outside  of  the  country, 
engaging  as  missionaries  5290  American  men  and  women,  and 
using  in  the  conduct  of  their  work  nearly  $10,000,000  annually. 
We  can  but  refer,  and  that  in  the  briefest  possible  way,  to 
some  of  the  main  features  of  missionary  advance  during  the  last 
three  quarters  of  a  century. 

1.  The  Completion  of  Missionary  Geography  and  the  Placing  of 
Missionaries  where  the  Greatest  Needs  Exist.  —  Modern  geogra- 
phy has  been  perfected  more  by  the  missionaries  than  by  the 
professional  geographers.  The  missionaries  sent  out  previous  to 
1834  went  for  the  most  part  into  terra  incognita,  to  blaze  their 
own  way  into  interior  districts,  charting  their  courses  as  they 
went.  Then  practically  all  Eastern  countries  were  equally  in 
need  of  the  Christian  missionary,  since  all  were  equally  destitute. 
There  was  little  danger  that  missionaries  of  different  boards 
would  jostle  each  other  upon  the  field.  As  conditions  have 
changed,  Missionary  Geography  has  become  a  science  by  itself. 
To-day  missionary  organizations  are  mapping  out,  with  scientific 
exactness,  the  non-Christian  countries  of  the  world,  noting  the 
areas  that  are  properly  occupied,  over-occupied,  or  occupied 
with  insufficient  forces,  or  not  at  all.  According  to  these 
charts  new  missionaries  are  in  a  large  degree  appointed  and 
designated,  and  by  this  rule  the  advancing  missionary  body  is 
systematically  covering  the  entire  non-Christian  world. 

2.  Changed  Conceptions  of  the  Eastern  Religions.  —  There  was 
formerly  little  exact  knowledge  of  the  religions  of  the  East  and 
little  desire  for  greater  knowledge.  Few  thought  that  any  of 
these  great  religions,  or  all  of  them  together,  afforded  a  topic 
sufficiently  broad  or  inviting  to  attract  the  attention  of  modern 
scholarship.  It  was  not  thought  that  these  religions  possessed 
anything  that  could  be  of  value  to  the  Christian  scholar,  and 
perhaps  even  less  to  the  Christian  teacher.  Not  a  small  num- 
ber of  the  leading  Christian  scholars  sincerely  believed  that  these 
religions  were  of  their  father,  the  devil,  conceived  in  hell  and 
sent  to  earth  for  the  condemnation  of  the  race.  Acquaintance 
with  these  great  religions  has  brought  them  to  the  front,  as 
objects  not  only  of  intense  interest  to  the  student  of  religion,  but 
also  of  real  value  to  him  who  would  best  understand  Christianity 


524  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

and  its  relations  to  men  of  all  races.  It  is  now  accepted  that, 
for  the  best  equipment  for  his  work,  the  foreign  missionary 
should  have  some  exact  knowledge  of  all  the  ethnic  religions, 
and  particular  knowledge  of  those  with  which  he  is  to  come  into 
closest  relations. 

3.  Care  in  the  Selection  of  Missionaries.  —  For  the  first  half- 
century  and  more  of  modern  missions  it  was  the  general  opinion 
that  any  properly  devout  person  was  qualified  for  missionary 
work.  Mechanics,  farmers,  school-teachers,  and  a  large  number 
of  men  of  other  trades  were  appointed  and  sent  out.  It  is  true 
that  among  these  were  a  large  number  of  well-trained  men  and 
a  smaller  number  of  thoroughly  educated  women.  Few  were 
refused  appointment  because  of  a  deficiency  in  intellectual  train- 
ing. Little  attention  was  given  also  to  physical  equipment. 
Missionaries  were  commissioned  who  were  known  to  be  seized 
of  a  fatal  disease.  At  the  present  time  the  leading  boards  are 
demanding  for  missionary  appointment  men  and  women  of  the 
broadest  intellectual  development  and  of  the  best  physical  equip- 
ment. For  example,  the  American  Board  requires  that  its  male 
missionaries  shall  have  taken  not  only  a  complete  college  course, 
but  a  post-graduate  course  of  from  three  to  five  years.  The 
broadest  courses  in  Theology,  Psychology,  Pedagogy,  Com- 
parative Religions,  Medicine,  and  other  allied  subjects  have 
been  proven  essential  to  the  widest  influence  and  most  perma- 
nent success.  Most  of  the  women  commissioned  hold  college 
diplomas,  while  an  increasing  number  have  taken  theological 
or  allied  courses.  It  has  been  demonstrated  that,  everything 
else  being  equal,  the  best  educated  and  mentally  equipped  mis- 
sionaries accomplish  the  best  results. 

4.  The  Dominant  Motive  for  prosecuting  Missionary  Work. — 
The  earlier  purpose,  as  expressed  by  addresses  and  appeals,  was 
to  save  the  individual  soul  of  every  man  and  woman  of  the  East 
from  eternal  destruction.  The  value  of  the  human  soul,  and 
the  awful  doom  that  it  must  suffer  if  unredeemed,  were  much 
more  dwelt  upon  in  public  address  than  at  the  present  time. 
Other  motives  were  mentioned,  but  these  were  usually  made 
prominent.  Gradually,  and  almost  imperceptibly,  emphasis 
has  changed,  until  at  the  present  time  we  think  and  speak  of 
nations  to  be  Christianized,  society  to  be  permeated  with  right- 
eousness, races  changed  from  cannibals  to  worthy  followers  of 


THEORY  AND  METHOD  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS  525 

Jesus  Christ.  It  would  not  be  fair  to  affirm  that  in  these  latter 
days  we  have  lost  sight  of  the  individual ;  but,  so  far  as  the  boards 
themselves  are  concerned,  they  are  dealing  at  greater  length 
with  the  broader  and  all-embracing  phases  of  the  work,  while 
the  organized  native  forces  more  directly  reach  the  individual. 
As  a  motive,  we  appeal  much  more  than  formerly  to  the  unfailing 
love  of  God,  the  common  Father  of  all,  and  Jesus  Christ  the 
Redeemer  of  all,  who  died  that  every  individual  of  every  race  in 
every  land  might  enter  into  the  abundant  life. 

5.  The  Attention  of  the  Missionaries  to  the  Religious  and  Spirit- 
ual Side  of  the  People.  —  The  supreme  desire  of  the  earlier  mis- 
sionaries appeared  to  be  to  save  the  soul  of  the  individual  from 
the  consequences  of  sin.  To-day  the  missionaries  plan  and 
strive  to  save  the  entire  man,  and  with  that  salvation  to  create  a 
redeemed  society.  They  organize  and  build  up  institutions 
that  shall  provide  for  his  intellectual  needs,  and  aid  him  in  so 
controlling  his  physical  environment  that  his  external  conditions 
may  gradually  improve.  It  is  taken  for  granted  that,  when  the 
entire  man  is  saved,  he  will  be  regenerated  as  a  spiritual  being, 
while  he  will  be  so  situated  that  he  can  and  will  live  as  becomes 
a  son  of  God. 

6.  The  Force  of  Native  Leaders.  — Seventy-five  years  ago  there 
was  a  mere  handful  of  "native  helpers,"  consisting  mostly  of 
primary-school  teachers,  and  servants  who  did  some  little  Christ- 
ian work.  It  was  past  the  middle  of  the  last  century  before  a 
native  church  under  competent  native  leaders  became  the  goal 
of  missions.  Then  the  missionaries  were  everything,  and  prac- 
tically did  everything ;  but  now  it  is  recognized  that  their  work  is 
pioneer  mainly  and  necessarily  transitory,  and  that  the  real  and 
abiding  work  done  in  the  foreign  field  is  that  conducted  by  the 
trained  natives,  who  are  the  pastors  of  the  churches,  the  teachers 
of  the  schools,  the  evangelists  and  preachers  for  the  remote 
districts,  and,  in  fact,  the  leaders  in  all  forms  of  work,  evangel- 
istic, educational,  and  literary.  These  now  far  outnumber  the 
missionaries  and  hold,  many  of  them,  positions  of  marked  lead- 
ership. The  native  workers  are  the  hope  and  assurance  of  the 
permanence  of  the  entire  work. 

7.  The  Distinction  between  Evangelization  and  Education.  — 
It  was  thought  by  many  that  he  who  preached  and  led  men  to 
immediate  repentance  was  the  true  missionary,  while  the  one  who 


526  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

engaged  in  any  kind  of  educational  work  was  a  school-teacher 
and  hardly  a  missionary  at  all.  "Education"  was  set  over 
against  "evangelization,"  as  something  quite  different,  and  even 
hostile.  In  these  later  days  it  is  recognized  that  an  independent 
native  church  cannot  be  created  without  educated  men  and 
women  to  direct  its  affairs.  The  missionaries  were  not  and 
could  not  be  numerous  enough  to  be  the  pastors  of  all  of  the 
native  churches,  even  if  they  were  able  to  do  the  work  that  these 
churches  demanded  of  their  pastors.  The  missionary  soon 
learned  that  he  could  multiply  himself  and  his  powers  as  an 
evangelist  many  fold  by  gathering  about  him  a  company  of 
selected,  able  young  men,  and  training  and  inspiring  them  to 
evangelize  their  own  people.  This  is  the  secret  of  the  mission 
training-schools,  and  back  of  them  the  mission  colleges  and  high 
schools.  They  are  the  true  basis  and  foundation  of  all  perma- 
nent evangelistic  work  in  all  countries.  To  attain  unto  this  end, 
and  to  raise  up  an  intelligent  Christian  community,  a  system  of 
education  has  developed  in  most  mission  fields,  including  all 
grades  and  departments  from  the  kindergarten  to  the  theological 
seminary. 

8.  Christian  Literature.  —  In  the  entire  range  of  literature, 
beginning  with  the  translation  of  the  Bible  into  the  vernacular, 
and  extending  to  systems  of  text-books  for  all  grades  of  schools, 
down  to  within  thirty  or  forty  years,  the  missionaries  were  the 
principal  producers.  At  the  present  time  they  are  rapidly  being 
superseded  by  native  authors,  and  the  work  of  mission  presses 
is  more  than  duplicated  by  the  presses  of  native  companies. 
Within  seventy-five  years,  in  every  mission  field,  daily,  weekly, 
and  monthly  vernacular  periodicals  —  religious,  educational, 
and  secular  —  have  come  into  existence,  edited  by  missionaries, 
recognized  native  Christian  leaders,  and  others,  all  shaping  the 
thoughts  and  directing  the  actions  of  the  races  which  they  reach. 

9.  The  Kindergarten  and  Industrial  Schools.  —  The  kinder- 
garten in  missions  is  the  product  of  the  present  generation.  The 
efficacy  and  attractive  character  to  the  peoples  of  the  East  of 
this  form  of  child-education  has  been  abundantly  proven,  so 
that  it  may  well  be  said  that  the  experimental  stage  has  already 
passed.  The  same  cannot  be  said  of  industrial  work.  So  far 
as  this  exists  only  in  the  form  of  a  means  for  indigent  pupils  to 
earn  an  education,  it  is  universally  accepted  and  is  widely  ap- 


THEORY  AND  METHOD  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS   527 

plied ;  but,  so  far  as  it  relates  to  the  teaching  of  trades  by  which 
the  student  can  earn  a  living  after  leaving  school,  it  is  still  an 
unsolved  problem.  Neither  is  it  generally  conceded  that  it  is  a 
part  of  the  work  of  mission  boards  to  conduct  expensive  tech- 
nical schools.  Almost  all  forms  of  mission  industrial  work  have 
entered  missions  within  the  last  fifty  years.  Many  experiments 
are  being  tried  along  all  lines  of  industries,  some  of  which  sink 
into  commercialism,  others  prove  impractical,  while  a  few  seem 
to  succeed. 

10.  Medical  Work.  —  The  first  missionary  physicians  sent 
out  were  missionaries  who  understood  medicine  and  surgery. 
Few  had  any  idea  of  constructing  hospitals,  and  most  of  them 
simply  added  a  case  of  medicines  to  their  Bible  and  hymn-book 
equipment  as  they  made  their  missionary  tours.  They  were  not 
called  medical  missionaries,  but  missionaries  who  were  physi- 
cians. The  modern  medical  missionary  is  a  master  of  his  pro- 
fession, with  a  hospital  and  dispensary  equipped  in  modern 
style,  if  such  equipment  can  be  obtained,  and  conducted  as 
any  other  institution  of  its  kind,  but  always  in  the  most  tender 
Christian  manner  and  with  Christian  nurses  and  attendants. 
The  modern  mission  hospital  has  become  an  institution  peculiar 
to  itself,  one  of  the  strongest  credentials  for  pure  Christianity 
to  be  found  anywhere  in  the  world. 

11.  Self-supporting  Churches. — Within  the  last  half  of  the 
century  sentiment  has  changed  regarding  the  support  of  native 
churches,  schools,  and  all  forms  of  native  work  as  a  legitimate 
charge  upon  the  people  themselves  and  not  a  perpetual  burden 
resting  upon  the  mission  boards.  In  the  earlier  days  of  mis- 
sions, no  other  thought  seems  to  have  been  maintained  than 
that  all  expenditures  for  the  work  must  be  made  by  the  mis- 
sionaries and  paid  by  the  churches  at  home.  This  was  for  the 
most  part  agreeable  to  the  people,  who  naturally  were  willing  to 
receive  not  only  a  free  Gospel  but  to  send  their  children  to  free 
schools,  listen  to  the  preaching  of  a  free  pastor,  in  a  church- 
building  erected  wholly  by  foreign  funds.  This  conception 
of  the  freedom  of  Christianity  has  undergone  a  complete  change. 
It  is  now  recognized  that  the  true  and  only  successful  policy  of 
mission  work  is  that  the  people  themselves  shall  pay  to  the  limit 
of  their  ability,  not  only  for  the  support  of  their  own  Christian, 
educational,  and  charitable  institutions, but  that  they  shall  main- 


528  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

tain  also  native  missionary  organizations  of  their  own  for  the 
propagation  of  Christianity  in  the  regions  beyond.  The  Ameri- 
can Board  has  carried  this  principle  so  far  that  at  the  present 
time  the  natives  themselves  give  more  for  the  conduct  of  their 
own  institutions  than  is  given  by  the  board  for  the  same  kind  of 
work. 

12.  Planning  and  directing  the  Work.  —  It  was  imperative  in 
the  beginning  that  all  forms  of  work  should  be  planned  and 
directed  by  the  missionaries.  They  were  at  first  the  only  Chris- 
tians, and  for  half  a  century  they  were  the  unquestioned  leaders. 
They  were  the  pastors  of  the  churches,  principals  and  superin- 
tendents of  the  schools,  and  in  fact  they  were  everything.  The 
natives  who  early  became  Christians  and  who  showed  special 
aptitude  were  called  "native  helpers"  or  "agents,"  but  were 
expected  to  take  their  directions  from  the  missionaries.  This 
has  so  far  passed  that  in  some  missions  the  native  leaders  who 
are  in  charge  of  independent  churches  or  independent  Christian 
schools  outnumber  the  missionaries  themselves.  In  many  coun- 
tries the  native  churches  have  formed  ecclesiastical  organizations, 
according  to  their  various  denominations  in  the  home  land, 
and  carry  on  all  of  the  functions  of  such  organizations  indepen- 
dently of  missionary  control.  Many  of  these  have  missionary 
and  evangelistic  societies,  supported  by  native  funds  and  directed 
by  native  officers.  This  movement  towards  the  native  control 
of  local  work  is  making  signal  headway  and  is  full  of  promise. 

13.  Interdenominational  Cooperation.  —  It  is  only  within  the 
last  fifty  years  or  so  that  missionary  fields  have,  as  a  general  thing, 
begun  to  grow  together.  This  has  resulted  in  the  organization 
of  union  institutions,  and  in  mission  and  church  affiliations  that 
have  never  been  attempted  in  the  United  States  or  Europe,  but 
which  are  proving  themselves  to  be  of  the  greatest  value  on  the 
field. 

The  theory  and  method  of  foreign  missions  have  met  with 
marked  changes  during  the  past  three  quarters  of  a  century. 
Through  these  years  of  experimentation  and  accurate  observa- 
tion a  true  science  of  missions  has  emerged.  No  longer  is  the 
method  of  work  dependent  upon  the  peculiar  whims  of  indi- 
viduals, but  it  is  conducted  in  accordance  with  methods  that 
have  been  proven  to  be  wise  and  economical,  effective  and 
permanent. 


PROTESTANT   MISSIONS   IN  AUSTRIA 

Rev.  Albert  Warren  Clark,  D.D. 
Prague,  Bohemia 

The  year  1908  was  in  Austria  a  year  of  jubilee  and  thanks- 
giving. In  1848,  in  the  stormy  days  of  revolution,  a  young  man 
was  called  to  the  throne  in  Vienna.  In  the  sixty  years  that  have 
passed  since  then,  Francis  Joseph  has  many  times  shown  his 
kindly  interest  in  the  comparatively  few  Evangelical  citizens  of 
his  empire.  They  fully  appreciate  the  increased  religious  liberty 
granted  them  by  the  noble-minded  emperor,  and  they  show  con- 
stantly their  loyalty  and  gratitude. 

In  order  to  understand  religious  progress  during  these  three- 
score years,  it  is  necessary  to  refer,  very  briefly,  to  some  facts  in 
the  past  history  of  this  empire.  Huss,  influenced  by  the  writings 
of  Wycliffe,  began  a  glorious  reformation.  Burned  at  Constance 
as  a  martyr  in  1415,  he  still  lives  in  the  hearts  of  all  liberal- 
minded  Bohemians.  He  told  his  enemies,  "You  cannot  burn 
truth."  With  great  faithfulness  his  followers  proclaimed  the 
Bible  truth  which  he  loved  better  than  life  itself.  There  was 
wonderful  progress  through  the  labors  of  the  "  Bohemian  Breth- 
ren." At  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the  great  majority 
of  the  families  in  Moravia  and  Bohemia  had  the  Bible.  It  is  a 
remarkable  translation,  this  Kralicka,  which  we  use  now,  and 
which  compares  favorably  with  our  revised  translation.  After 
much  Christian  prosperity  came  the  awful  catastrophe  of  1620. 
With  the  Protestant  defeat  at  the  White  Mountain  near  Prague 
began  a  night  —  a  midnight  —  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-one 
years  marked  by  terrible  persecution.  A  population  of  3,000,000 
was  reduced  in  a  score  of  years  to  a  few  hundred  thousand. 
Romanists  poured  into  the  country  to  occupy  the  vacated  farms. 

In  1781  Emperor  Joseph  II  issued  his  wonderful  "edict  of 

toleration,"  and  then  thousands  of  secret  Protestants  appeared, 

who  had  in  many  cases  clung  to  their  Bibles  —  hidden  in  hollow 

trees,  in  cellars,  and  in  woodpiles  to  escape  the  eyes  of  the  cruel 

2M  529 


530  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

Jesuits.  The  limited  toleration  granted  by  Joseph  II  was 
greatly  restricted  by  his  successor.  No  one  could  leave  the 
Romish  Church  to  join  the  Protestant  until  he  had  had  six 
weeks  of  special  instruction  from  his  priest;  and  the  priests 
declared  that  the  six  weeks  meant  1008  hours  actually  spent 
in  the  priest's  home  for  the  needed  instruction.  In  some  cases 
it  required  six  years  of  half-persecution  before  one  could  leave 
the  Romish  Church.  The  present  emperor  during  the  first  year 
of  his  reign  granted  Protestants  much  larger  liberty,  and  in  1861 
he  gave  them  in  many  respects  equal  rights  with  his  Roman 
Catholic  subjects. 

Shortly  before  1870  we  find  a  few  Bohemian  theological  stu- 
dents at  Edinburgh.  They  were  welcomed  by  those  of  like 
faith  in  Scotland.  No  country  of  its  size  has  shown  deeper 
interest  in  Austria.  The  first  of  these  students,  Rev.  L.  B. 
Kaspar,  deserves  special  mention  for  his  interest  in  Christian 
progress  in  this  land.  In  the  preparation  of  Evangelical  books 
and  tracts  he  has  secured  the  first  place.  We  hear  his  voice  no 
more;  but,  through  his  children  and  his  tract  society,  "Come- 
nius,"  he  still  lives.  Another  name  associated  with  mission 
progress  is  that  of  the  senior  Schubert.  He  was  the  first  to 
welcome  the  American  missionaries  in  1872.  They,  on  their 
part,  saw  the  necessity  of  his  Girls'  Seminary.  The  feeble  be- 
ginning was  greatly  strengthened  by  the  Americans,  through 
whose  influence  good  buildings  were  erected  for  the  school. 

As  a  foundation  for  all  real  progress  we  must  have  the  Bible, 
but  this  was  almost  a  forbidden  book  when  Francis  Joseph 
was  crowned  Emperor  of  Austria.  The  first  agents  of  the  British 
Society,  and  I  knew  them  well,  were  sent  out  of  the  country  with 
all  their  Scriptures.  But  now  for  years  there  has  been  an  impor- 
tant Bible  store  in  Vienna.  It  is  true  that  to-day  colportage  in 
Austria  is  a  most  difficult  task.  The  Bible  messenger  must  have 
a  license,  secured  from  the  governor  through  some  legally  es- 
tablished bookstore.  Months  are  often  occupied  in  securing 
this  license,  which  is  good  for  only  one  year,  nor  does  it  allow  the 
selling  of  Bibles,  but  only  the  taking  of  subscriptions.  The 
orders  must  be  sent  from  the  store  or  depot.  At  present  the 
National  Bible  Society  of  Scotland  is  cooperating  most  faith- 
fully with  the  British  Society.  The  men  of  the  former  society, 
laboring  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Clark,  sold  last  year  more  than 


PROTESTANT    MISSIONS    IN   AUSTRIA        531 

40,000  copies  of  the  Scriptures  (Bibles,  Testaments,  and  por- 
tions). The  injunction  to  write  only  a  short  article  forbids 
reference  to  many  delightful  experiences  showing  that  "the 
entrance  of  Thy  words  giveth  light." 

Taking  up  another  aspect  of  religious  progress,  brief  mention 
may  be  made  of  the  different  Evangelical  churches  working  in 
Austria. 

(a)  The  Reformed  Church.  —  With  very  few  exceptions, 
the  efforts  of  this  Church  is  for  the  Slavs.  I  am  glad  to 
testify  that,  since  my  arrival  in  Prague  in  1872,  there  has  been 
much  progress  in  this  Church.  Forty  years  ago  it  had  but  one 
Sunday-school  and  no  Young  Men's  Christian  Association. 
There  was  little  thought  of  anything  like  lay  effort  for  the  wel- 
fare of  Christ's  kingdom,  and  church  discipline  was,  as  to-day, 
but  little  heeded;    still  we  report  good  progress. 

(b)  The  LiitJieran  Church.  —  This  organization  works  for  the 
most  part,  but  not  exclusively,  for  Germans.  The  so-called 
"  Los-von-Rom "  movement  has  swelled  the  numbers  of  this 
Church  in  North  Bohemia  and  Styria,  but  it  has  added  almost 
nothing  to  the  spiritual  strength  of  the  Lutherans;  it  is  too 
superficial  and  political.  In  passing  we  may  mention  two 
cheering  facts :  — 

(i)  In  upper  Austria  there  is  a  remarkable  work  carried  on  by 
Rev.  L.  Schwarz,  D.D.  Through  his  devoted  life  new  interest 
has  been  awakened  in  home  missions,  especially  in  the  care  of 
the  sick  through  trained  nurses  called  "deaconesses." 

(2)  In  Southern  Austria,  years  ago,  a  noble  countess  was 
awakened  to  new  life  through  a  simple  Bible  colporteur.  Later 
she  corresponded  much  with  the  missionaries  of  the  American 
Board,  through  whom,  for  years,  her  first  and  second  evangelist- 
teacher  were  supported.  Some  time  ago  the  death  of  her  father 
and  of  her  husband  placed  her  in  possession  of  a  considerable 
property  which  she  uses  for  the  Lord.  She  now  supports  several 
evangelists  and  teachers  in  the  southern  field. 

(c)  The  Moravian  Church.  —  Herrnhut  sent  its  first  preacher 
to  Bohemia  a  few  months  before  the  arrival  of  Schauffler,  Adams, 
and  Clark.  Not  until  1880  was  their  first  church  organized. 
There  are  now  five  such  churches  with  about  one  thousand 
members.  They  have  the  same  freedom  that  is  accorded  the 
Reformed   and   the  Lutheran  churches,  but  there  is  in  it  an 


532  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

element  of  bondage.  Before  a  church  can  be  organized  some 
8000  florins  must  be  deposited  with  the  government,  and  every 
important  movement  must  be  reported  to  the  political  authorities. 

(d)  The  Baptists.  —  This  denomination  has  been  quietly 
laboring  in  Austria  at  least  thirty  years.  It  has  met,  as 
have  we,  with  much  opposition,  but  it  reports  four  churches; 
the  largest  is  in  Vienna,  and  the  second  in  size  is  in  Prague.  The 
present  Baptist  Congress  in  Berlin  will  doubtless  awaken  new 
interest  in  Austria. 

(e)  The  Methodists.  —  These  have  two  churches  in  Vienna. 
For  years  they  suffered  persecution.  Even  as  late  as  1877  a 
Methodist  missionary  and  his  wife  were  fined,  because,  seeing 
how  eagerly  tracts  dropped  from  the  window  were  picked  up,  she 
allowed  some  more  to  drop.  Tract  distribution,  even  to-day, 
may  be  punished,  but  with  prudence  much  Christian  literature 
may  be  circulated. 

(/)  The  Free  Churches.  —  I  come  now  to  the  work  to  which 
the  greater  part  of  my  life  has  been  devoted  —  The  Free  Re- 
formed, or  Congregational  churches.  Just  here  I  may  be 
pardoned  if  I  quote  from  an  article  of  Rev.  H.  A.  Schauffler, 
D.D.  {Congregationalist,  1903).  He  labored  here  nearly  nine 
years.  The  subject  of  his  letter  was  "  God's  marvelous  work 
in  Austria."  Referring  to  the  arrival  of  Schauffler,  Adams,  and 
Clark  in  1872  and  his  visit  in  1903,  he  writes:  — 

"  The  contrast  between  the  small  beginning,  the  painful  limitations,  and 
severe  persecution  of  those  early  days  and  the  present  large  liberty,  wide 
extension,  and  abundant  fruitage  of  the  work,  was  striking  and  delightful. 
I  first  visited  Vienna.  When  compelled  by  family  reasons  to  leave  Austria 
in  1881,  we  had  no  missionary  work  in  Vienna.  Now  I  found  a  flourishing 
mission  to  Bohemians,  who  abound  in  that  great,  beautiful,  and  godless  city. 
Sunday  I  preached  to  one  hundred  and  forty  attentive  hearers  in  the  mis- 
sion house.  The  beautiful  house,  containing  a  good-sized  hall  with  gallery, 
fitted  up  as  a  church,  with  apartments  for  the  preacher's  home,  Christian 
Endeavor  rooms,  and  gymnasium,  was  built  for  our  mission,  and  is  owned 
by  a  Scotch  friend. 

"  At  the  beginning  of  our  missionary  work  in  Prague  we  found  that  no 
Protestants  were  recognized  as  having  any  religious  status  or  any  rights, 
except  Lutherans  and  adherents  of  the  Reformed  Church.  We  had  no 
right  to  hold  public  divine  services,  and  as  private  individuals  we  could  sell 
no  Bibles  and  lend  no  tracts;  only  a  bookseller  could  do  that.  As  late  as 
1879  we  were  prohibited  from  holding  private  religious  meetings.  In 
neighboring  villages  Roman  Catholic  farmers,  who  had  become  interested 
in  Evangelical  truth,  and  who  met  on  Sunday  morning  to  read  the  Bible 
and  sing  and  pray   together,  were  scattered  and  punished  by  the  police. 


PROTESTANT   MISSIONS    IN   AUSTRIA        533 

Through  the  efforts  of  the  Evangelical  Alliance  in  1879  we  acquired  the 
right  to  hold  private  religious  meetings,  but  only  with  invited  guests. 

"  When  I  spent  a  Sabbath  in  Prague  last  August,  I  found  four  Free 
churches,  fruits  of  our  mission  work,  occupying  strategic  points  in  different 
parts  of  the  city.  Three  of  them  are  housed  in  buildings  owned  by  the  Society 
'Bctanie,'  which  is  incorporated  under  Austrian  law,  and  has  the  right  to 
own  property.  Thus,  though  our  Free  churches  are  not  incorporated  and 
have  no  legal  status  or  rights  as  churches,  they  really  enjoy  all  the  legal 
rights  of  Betanie  and  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association.  Indeed,  in 
important  respects  they  enjoy  greater  freedom  than  the  Protestant  Churches 
recognized  by  the  State,  since  the  latter  are  subject  to  the  control  of  a  con- 
sistory in  Vienna,  whose  members  are  ap{X)inted  by  the  Crown. 

"  Sunday  morning  I  preached  in  the  center  of  Prague  to  a  now  self-support- 
ing church,  our  first,  which  numbers  two  hundred  and  thirty-nine  members. 
In  the  afternoon  I  spoke  to  a  congregation  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  (half 
of  them  church-members),  in  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  build- 
ing in  the  new  suburb  Vinohrady,  where  the  church  numbers  one  hundred 
and  forty-six.  In  the  evening  I  preached  in  the  Zizkov  suburb  (named  after 
John  Zizka,  the  Cromwell  of  the  Hussite  wars)  to  over  a  hundred  hearers, 
seventy  of  them  Catholics.  Their  new  church  has  twenty-seven  members. 
Monday  I  visited  the  new  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  building  in 
the  Smichov  suburb.  These  four  churches  have  enrolled  five  hundred  and 
fifty-four  members.  I  also  visited  the  'Domovina,'  situated  in  the  midst  of 
an  attractive  garden.  This  refuge,  the  result  of  the  efforts  of  our  mis- 
sionaries, is  the  only  place  in  the  city,  and  I  believe  in  all  Bohemia,  where 
fallen  girls  are  given  a  chance,  under  Christian  influence,  to  return  to  a 
virtuous  life.     The  police  recognize  its  value  and  lend  it  their  aid. 

"  Prague  is  only  the  center  of  our  mission  work  in  Austria,  which  numbers 
forty-four  missionary  stations,  fourteenYoung  Men's  Christian  Associations, 
and  eighteen  churches,  with  a  membership  of  1414  (in  1903).  It  is  a 
wonder,  how  our  small  missionary  force,  the  Rev.  Dr.  A.  W.  Clark  and 
the  Rev.  John  S.  Porter  and  their  wives,  have  been  able  to  accomplish  so 
great  a  work. 

"  A  considerable  part  of  the  time  since  Dr.  E.  A.  Adams,  now  of  our  Chicago 
Bohemian  Mission,  and  I  were  obliged  to  leave  the  field,  Dr.  Clark  has  been 
the  only  missionary  in  charge  of  the  work.  Thirteen  years  with  no  associ- 
ate !  The  early  experience  of  the  American  Board's  mission  to  Austria 
and  its  present  prosperity  are  aptly  set  forth  in  the  words  of  the  Psalmist: 
'If  it  had  not  been  the  Lord  who  was  on  our  side  when  men  rose  up  against 
us;  then  they  had  swallowed  us  up  quick,  when  their  wrath  was  kindled 
against  us.'  Its  history  should  greatly  strengthen  the  faith  of  our  churches 
in  missionary  work  and  stimulate  them  to  prosecute  it  with  a  holy  zeal." 

Since  Dr.  Schauffler,  after  doing  grand  work  for  the  Bohe- 
mians in  America,  has  gone  home  to  his  heavenly  reward, 
it  seemed  appropriate  to  place  his  testimony  here.  How  vital 
is  the  connection  of  our  Bohemian  Mission  in  Prague  with 
similar  work  in  America !  It  was  this  mission  that  trained  Dr. 
Schauffler  for  Cleveland,  and  Dr.  E.  A.  Adams  for  his  abundant 
labors  in  Chicago.  In  ten  states,  and  in  Canada,  young  men, 
partially  or  wholly  trained  here,  are  working  for  Christ  among 


534  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

Bohemians.  In  May,  1905,  at  a  Bohemian  service  in  Cleveland, 
I  asked  all  to  rise  who  had  heard  me  preach  in  their  native  land. 
Twenty-nine  sprang  to  their  feet.  All  our  books  and  tracts 
published  in  Prague  are  in  demand  in  America.  Some  years 
800  copies  of  our  Sunday-school  Annual  are  required  in 
Bohemian  Sunday-schools  in  America.  Such  facts  indicate 
that  working  for  Bohemia  is  working  for  America;  and,  I 
I  might  add,  for  Russia  too,  where  there  are  many  Bohemians. 
In  the  land  of  the  Czar  we  have  three  congregations  manned  by 
young  men  from  some  of  our  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tions in  Bohemia  or  Vienna,  and  the  work  is  growing.  What 
open  doors  in  Russia!  Would  to  God  we  had  more  men  and 
more  abundant  means  for  enlarging  that  growing  work!  Who 
will  help  here,  and  in  the  Russian  Empire? 

The  blessing  of  the  Master  has  rested  upon  the  faithful  helpers 
of  this  mission.  In  1896,  for  example,  seven  other  missions  of 
the  American  Board  received  fewer  members  on  confession  of 
faith  than  were  welcomed  by  the  Bohemian  preachers  of  the 
Board's  mission  centering  at  Prague.  It  may  not  be  amiss  to 
place  here  the  testimony  of  Dr.  Walker,  for  years  editor  of  the 
Free  Church  Monthly  of  Scotland.  He  closes  a  long  report 
of  his  visit  to  Bohemia  with  the  following  words:  "In  short, 
the  impression  left  upon  my  mind  is  this,  that  in  very  few  coun- 
tries indeed  is  an  evangelistic  enterprise  being  carried  on  which 
is  conducted  so  wisely  and  with  such  energy  and  success  as  that 
of  the  American  Board  in  Bohemia." 

Hartford  Theological  Seminary  has  special  reason  for  taking 
an  interest  in  the  American  Board's  Mission  to  Austria.  Pro- 
fessor E.  C.  Bissell  labored  with  me  five  years  in  the  southern 
part  of  our  great  field,  and  Clark  and  Porter  are  graduates  of 
the  Seminary,  so  that  this  mission,  so  far  as  Americans  are  con- 
cerned, belongs  to  it.  From  the  first  feeble  beginning  in  Prague 
up  to  the  present  hour,  Hartford  has  been  represented. 

The  first  Congregational  Church  of  Bohemia  was  organized 
in  the  house  of  Dr.  Clark  in  Prague  in  1880.  Our  mission  met, 
at  the  beginning,  much  opposition.  Little  by  little  a  much  larger 
measure  of  religious  liberty  was  secured.  At  the  International 
Council  in  London  in  1891,  A.  W.  Clark,  as  delegate,  was  able 
to  report  five  little  churches.  To  the  International  Council  in 
Edinburgh,  1908,  we  reported  twenty-five  churches,  in  Bohemia, 


PROTESTANT   MISSIONS    IN   AUSTRIA        535 

Moravia,  Vienna,  and  Russia.  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tions were  introduced  in  1886.  At  first  the  government  did  not 
understand  the  tendency  of  such  organizations,  and  opposed 
them;  but  this  unfriendHness  has  long  since  been  overcome, 
and  to-day  all  such  organizations  enjoy  the  full  confidence  of 
the  authorities.  We  close  this  brief  statement,  by  referring  to  the 
statistics  of  our  last  report,  that  of  1907.  They  are  as  follows: 
one  station,  seventy-two  outstations,  twenty-four  churches, 
one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-three  full  members,  of 
whom  one  hundred  and  twenty  were  received  in  the  closing  year, 
sixteen  ordained  Bohemian  preachers,  five  pupils  in  training, 
five  colporteurs  supported  by  other  societies,  two  Bible-readers, 
twenty  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations,  three  Young 
Women's  Christian  Associations,  one  Rescue  and  Reform 
Home,  average  congregations  two  thousand  six  hundred  and 
sixty-one,  adherents  five  thousand  five  hundred  and  eighty-five, 
contributions  of  the  people  seven  thousand  dollars,  literature 
circulated  (Scriptures,  Bibles,  Testaments,  portions)  forty-five 
thousand,  other  books  and  booklets  sold  in  Bohemia,  America, 
and  Russia,  twenty  thousand  four  hundred  and  thirty-three, 
tracts  and  papers  one  hundred  and  seventy  nine  thousand 
seven  hundred. 

What  is  the  outlook  in  Austria?  A  broad  acquaintance  with 
this  extensive  field  leads  me  to  take  a  hopeful  view.  For  over 
thirty  years  I  have  labored  in  different  parts  of  the  empire,  but 
mostly  among  the  Bohemians.  While,  on  the  one  hand,  there 
are  bigotry,  skepticism,  opposition,  and  great  worldliness,  there 
are,  on  the  other  hand,  many  signs  of  better  times.  There  has 
been  much  progress  in  the  last  twenty  years.  Here,  as  elsewhere, 
it  is  evident  that  Christ's  Kingdom  is  coming. 


PROTESTANT    MISSIONS    AMONG    THE 
BULGARIANS 

Rev.  William  Paine  Clarke 

MoNASTiR,  Macedonia 

My  field,  about  which  I  am  asked  to  write,  is  known  as  the 
European  Turkey  Mission  (until  1870  part  of  the  Western 
Turkey  Mission),  and  is  carried  on  in  Bulgaria,  Macedonia, 
and  Albania.  Bulgarian  is  the  language  used  by  most  of  the 
missionaries,  the  work  in  Albania  being  of  more  recent  date. 
Only  within  a  year  have  missionaries  been  located  there;  one 
family  has  begun  to  use  the  Albanian  language,  and  the  other  is 
just  beginning  to  study  it.  In  Bulgaria  the  universal  language 
is  Bulgarian.  In  Macedonia  quite  a  number  of  languages  are 
in  common  use,  —  Bulgarian,  Greek,  Wallachian,  Servian,  etc. 
(I  have  seen  an  advertisement  here  in  Monastir  printed  in  seven 
languages),  —  but  of  all,  the  most  generally  understood  language 
is  Bulgarian.  Bulgarian,  accordingly,  is  the  language  of  us 
Macedonian  missionaries ;  our  pastor  here  preaches  in  his  native 
language,  Bulgarian,  and  all  understand  him,  though  there  are  in 
the  church-membership  and  audience  other  nationalities  also. 
So,  while  the  title  of  this  article  is  not  absolutely  correct  as  cover- 
ing my  field,  it  is  better  than  a  more  cumbersome  one  would  be. 

My  father  being  a  missionary,  I  was  born  in  Bulgaria,  and  a 
large  part  of  my  boyhood  was  spent  there;  while  my  life  as  a 
missionary  has  been  spent  in  Samakov,  Bulgaria,  from  1891 
till  1904,  and  in  Monastir,  Macedonia,  since  then.  So  much  for 
*'my  field." 

Seventy-five  years  ago  there  was  no  Protestant  missionary 
work  for  the  Bulgarians,  and  not  for  some  twenty-five  years  later. 
When  the  first  Protestant  missionaries  came,  the  Bulgarians  were 
nominally  a  Christian  people,  having  been  so  since  about  the 
middle  of  the  ninth  century,  when  their  king,  Boris,  was  con- 
verted to  Christianity,  and  he  and  the  whole  nation  were  bap- 
tized.    There  was  the  same  reason  for  undertaking  missionary 

536 


MISSIONS   AMONG   THE   BULGARIANS       537 

work  for  them  as  in  Austria,  Spain,  and  other  nominally  Christ- 
ian lands;  namely,  lack  of  life  in  their  national  Church,  the 
Greek  Orthodox.  The  new  birth  was  not  a  teaching  or  require- 
ment that  entered  into  their  religion,  and  is  not  to-day.  Most 
of  the  people,  practically,  worshiped  pictures  of  Christ,  the 
Virgin  Mary,  and  the  Saints,  instead  of  worshiping  Christ  him- 
self. It  was  a  formal,  lifeless  religion.  The  word  "Christian" 
did  not  mean  to  the  people  what  it  does  in  America.  Even  to- 
day, the  question,  "  Are  you  a  Christian  ?"  brings  up  the  thought 
of  the  distinction  between  Mohammedan  and  Christian,  and 
does  not  cause  heart-searching  unless  pressed  further. 

Cyril  and  Methodius  had  given  them  the  Slavic  alphabet 
and  the  Scriptures  in  Slavic;  but  when  the  missionaries  came, 
it  had  become  practically  a  dead  language,  yet  it  was  the  lan- 
guage used  then  in  the  churches,  and  is  still  in  most  of  them. 
Not  understanding  it,  the  people  were  not  fed.  The  Greeks 
had  destroyed  as  much  as  they  could  of  Bulgarian  literature, 
and  had  even  tried  to  make  the  people  use  the  Greek  language 
and  to  reckon  themselves  as  Greeks. 

The  awakening  of  the  Bulgarians  in  the  beginning  of  the 
nineteenth  century  brought  about  an  attempt  to  revive  their 
literature  thus  destroyed.  The  Archimandrite  Theodosius 
published,  in  1822,  at  St.  Petersburg,  the  Gospel  of  Matthew 
in  Bulgarian;  and,  in  1840,  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society,  at  Smyrna,  the  whole  New  Testament,  translated  by 
Sapannoff.  Neophyt's  translation  of  the  New  Testament, 
printed  in  London  by  the  same  society,  was  the  one  used  during 
the  first  years  of  missionary  work. 

In  1857,  Dr.  Cyrus  Hamlin,  together  with  Rev.  Mr.  Jones  of 
the  Turkish  Missions  Aid  Society,  made  a  tour  through  what  is 
now  Bulgaria  and  urged  the  American  Board  to  send  mission- 
aries there.  The  Board  decided  to  do  so,  and  invited  the  ]\Ietho- 
dist  Episcopal  Board  to  occupy  the  field  north  of  the  Balkans, 
while  it  should  carry  on  work  south  of  the  Balkans.  So  Protes- 
tant missionary  work  for  the  Bulgarians  was  begun,  by  the 
Methodist  Board  in  1857,  and  by  the  American  Board  in  1858. 

Rev.  Elias  Riggs,  whose  missionary  life  for  Greeks,  Arme- 
nians, and  others  began  in  1832,  was  appointed  to  the  work  for 
Bulgarians  in  1858.  For  them  he  spent  the  rest  of  his  long  life 
in  literary  work,  translating  and  revising  the  Bible,  preparing 


538  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

a  Bible  Dictionary  and  various  Commentaries,  and  translating 
four  hundred  and  seventy-two  of  the  six  hundred  and  twenty- 
six  hymns  that  we  have  in  our  Bulgarian  Hymn-Book. 

Among  the  first  missionaries  who  went  into  the  interior  with 
their  wives  were  Rev.  C.  F.  Morse  and  Rev,  T.  L.  Byington 
in  1858,  Rev.  W.  W.  Merriam  and  Rev.  James  F.  Clarke  in  1859, 
and  Rev.  H.  C.  Haskell  in  1862.  The  stations  occupied  in  the 
first  years  were  Constantinople,  Adrianople  (soon  given  up), 
Philippopolis,  Eski  Zagra,  and  Sophia.  Now  our  stations  are 
Philippopolis  and  Samakov  in  Bulgaria,  Monastir  and  Salonica 
in  Macedonia,  and  Kortcha  in  Albania. 

At  first,  for  five  years  or  so,  the  relations  between  the  mission- 
aries and  the  people  were  cordial;  then,  in  connection  with  the 
marriage  of  a  monk,  his  arrest,  and  his  taking  refuge  in  the  home 
of  missionaries,  a  reaction  set  in  and  violent  persecution  was  the 
lot  of  all  who  became  converts.  Tract-primers  and  other  books, 
eagerly  purchased  before,  were  thrown  out  of  the  schools.  The 
first  person  who  became  a  convert  in  Samakov,  some  years  later, 
was  anathematized  sixteen  times.  Yet  in  1867  several  had 
been  received  to  the  communion  in  Eski  Zagra  and  Philippopolis, 
and  in  187 1,  at  the  first  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Mission  as  the 
European  Turkey  Mission,  a  letter  of  thanks  signed  by  one 
hundred  and  one  persons  was  presented  to  Secretary  N.  G. 
Clark.  Relief  work  done  by  missionaries  in  Bulgaria  from  1877 
to  1878,  and  in  Macedonia  in  1903,  has  helped  some  to  remove 
prejudice. 

For  fifty  years  Neophyt's  translation  of  the  New  Testament 
was  the  only  evangelical  literature  in  the  country.  In  187 1 
Dr.  Riggs  presented  to  the  Annual  Meeting  the  first  bound  copy 
of  the  large  Bulgarian  Bible.  The  total  number  of  copies  of  the 
Scriptures  printed  up  to  the  present  is  about  291,000.  Thou- 
sands of  copies  of  evangelical  books  and  tracts  have  also  been 
put  into  circulation. 

The  first  number  of  the  Zornitsa  ("Morning  Star"),  our  mis- 
sion paper,  was  issued  in  Constantinople  in  March,  1864,  the 
second  not  till  April,  1865,  the  intervening  year  being  spent  in 
getting  the  Turkish  government  to  put  its  verbal  permission 
into  writing.  It  first  appeared  as  a  monthly,  then  as  a  weekly, 
with  a  monthly  edition  for  children.  In  1897  it  was  suspended 
for  lack  of  funds,  but  started  again  as  a  weekly  in  1901  in 


MISSIONS   AMONG   THE    BULGARIANS       539 

Philippopolis.  The  circulation  of  the  weekly  in  1885  was 
3250  and  of  the  monthly  3200;  in  1892  it  was  1300  and  1600 
respectively;  its  paid  circulation  now  is  about  1 100-1300;  but, 
being  printed  in  Bulgaria,  it  has  not  circulated  freely  in 
Macedonia. 

The  beginning  of  the  present  Collegiate  and  Theological 
Institute  was  due  to  a  gift  of  £s'^  from  Miss  Marston  of  Lon- 
don "  for  the  education  of  young  men  in  Bulgaria."  The  school 
was  started  in  Philij)popolis,  Oct.  22,  i860,  with  two  students, 
two  more  joining  soon  after.  Good  mental  and  moral  char- 
acter was  required,  but  no  pay  was  asked  for  board,  room-rent, 
or  tuition.  In  the  fall  of  1863  it  had  seven  students,  in  1869 
over  thirty.  It  was  suspended  from  1869  to  1870,  but  opened 
again  as  a  station  class  in  Eski  Zagra,  in  the  fall  of  1870,  with 
six  students.  The  next  year  it  was  transferred  to  Samakov,  where 
it  has  since  been  located.  It  has  now  a  Scientific  Course  of  seven 
years,  with  Bible  and  theological  studies  throughout,  and  a  spe- 
cial Theological  Course  of  one  year  afterwards.  There  is  now 
a  charge  for  board,  room-rent,  and  tuition.  The  Scientific 
Course  has  eighty-three  students,  of  whom  thirty-five  have  taken 
the  Theological  Course,  and,  of  these,  eighteen  have  entered  the 
ministry.     Eight  students  were  enrolled  in  1907. 

The  Samakov  Girls'  Boarding-school  was  started  in  Eski 
Zagra  in  1863,  but  later  removed  to  Samakov.  It  has  had  one 
hundred  and  twenty-four  graduates,  the  first  graduating  class  be- 
ing in  1879.  Of  these,  forty-two  have  become  Bible-women,  and 
sixty-nine  teachers;  twenty-two  have  taught  in  the  school  itself; 
fifteen  have  married  pastors  and  lay  preachers;  and  twenty- 
three  have  continued  their  studies  elsewhere.  The  Sophia 
Kindergarten,  with  its  branch  and  three  assistants,  has  also 
made  a  place  for  itself. 

The  first  station  oj)cned  in  Macedonia  was  IMonastir,  in  1873. 
Up  to  1894,  when  Salonica  was  occupied  as  a  station,  two  hun- 
dred and  four  had  been  received  into  communion  in  ^Macedonia; 
in  1907  there  were  seven  hundred  and  nineteen  church-members. 
The  freedom  that  has  recently  come  to  Turkey  will  make  tour- 
ing and  evangelical  work  easier  here  in  Macedonia. 

The  Monastir  Girls'  Boarding-school  was  begun  as  a  day- 
school  in  1878,  but  changed  to  a  boarding-school  in  1880. 
Thirty-five  have  graduated,  the  first  class  to  graduate  being  in 


540 


RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 


1888;  all  but  three  of  the  thirty-five  have  become  teachers. 
Forty-two  were  enrolled  in  1907. 

The  Kortcha  (Albania)  Girls'  Boarding-school  has  existed 
for  about  seventeen  years  under  a  native  principal  and  native 
teachers.  Of  late  it  has  had  great  trouble  on  account  of  the 
government  ban  placed  upon  the  use  of  the  Albanian  language 
and  Albanian  text-books ;  the  recent  freedom  has  removed  that 
ban,  and  a  new  era  is  now  open  before  it. 

The  Bulgarian  Evangelical  Society  is  one  proof  of  progress. 
It  was  organized  in  1875,  for  the  publication  of  books  and  tracts 
of  a  religious  nature,  and  to  aid  in  the  support  of  preachers  and 
colporteurs.  Its  officers  are  Bulgarians.  It  has  held  one  An- 
nual Meeting  in  Macedonia  and  one  north  of  the  Balkans,  all 
the  rest  in  the  field  of  the  American  Board  south  of  the  Balkans. 
It  annually  appoints  a  delegate  to  the  Annual  Meeting  of  the 
Mission  and  two  trustees  of  the  Samakov  schools,  and  the  Mis- 
sion appoints  a  delegate  to  its  Annual  Meeting. 

The  Summer  School  for  Workers  of  both  Missions  was  held 
first  in  Samakov  in  1896,  and  has  been  held  every  three  years, 
since,  alternating  south  and  north  of  the  Balkans. 

The  statistics  of  our  Mission  for  1907  are  as  follows:  eleven 
ordained  missionaries,  ten  wives,  seven  single  ladies,  and  five 
other  foreign  workers;  ninety-three  native  laborers,  of  whom 
fifteen  are  ordained  and  fifteen  unordained  preachers,  the 
rest  being  teachers,  colporteurs,  and  Bible-women ;  sixty  places 
of  regular  meeting,  nineteen  organized  churches  with  1408 
members,  the  average  church  attendance  3452,  adherents, 
3954;  fifty-four  Sunday-schools  with  a  membership  of  2584; 
Collegiate  and  Theological  Institute,  eighty  students;  three 
Boarding  and  High  Schools,  one  hundred  and  fifty-seven  pupils ; 
twenty-five  other  schools  with  six  hundred  and  nine  pupils. 

The  celebration  of  the  Jubilee  of  missionary  work  in  Bulgaria 
has  just  been  held  in  Sophia.  There  was  much  to  encourage^ 
but  may  the  next  fifty  years  show  still  greater  progress ! 


MISSIONS   IN   TURKEY 

President  John  Ernest  Merrill,  Ph.D. 

Central  Turkey  College,  Aintab,  Turkey 

Missionary  work  in  Turkey  had  its  inception  in  the  simplest 
way  —  publication  of  the  Bible  in  the  vernacular,  exposition  of 
the  same  to  those  desiring  instruction,  and  tours  of  missionary 
exploration  through  the  interior.  It  has  grown  into  an  exceed- 
ingly ramified  system  of  church-organization  and  of  religious, 
educational,  and  philanthropic  work,  having  independent  political 
standing  with  the  Turkish  government,  and  acting  as  a  stimulat- 
ing reagent  in  the  social  life  of  the  Empire.  The  work,  which 
seventy-five  years  ago  touched  only  Constantinople,  Smyrna, 
and  Beirut,  has  now  spread  a  network  of  civilizing  and  testi- 
fying Christian  influence  over  the  whole  country,  from  the  Medi- 
terranean Sea  to  the  Persian  Gulf,  and  from  European  Turkey 
and  the  Black  Sea  to  the  boundaries  of  Arabia.  Arabia  itself  is 
now  surrounded  with  the  outposts  of  a  future  forward  movement. 

For  an  extended  account  of  missionary  enterprise  in  Turkey, 
reference  may  be  made  to  the  latest  edition  of  the  EncyclopcBdia 
of  Missions.  Englishmen  and  Germans  have  shared  with  Ameri- 
cans the  honor  and  toil  of  the  work.  The  Church  Missionary 
Society  alone  has  devoted  itself  primarily  to  efforts  for  Moslems. 
The  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church  had,  till  hindered  by  the 
government,  a  growing  mission  among  the  Fellaheen  along 
the  coast  of  northern  Syria.  The  Germans,  entering  the  field 
recently,  have  given  attention  mainly  to  philanthropic  under- 
takings. To  the  Americans  chiefly  has  been  committed  the 
task  of  Protestant  missionary  activity  among  all  classes  of  the 
people.  Except  for  the  medical  work,  this  activity  has  been 
most  extensive  among  the  Armenians,  although  much  has  been 
accomplished  among  the  other  Christian  races  of  Turkey. 

The  purpose  of  this  paper  is  to  show  the  more  important  gains 
which  have  resulted  thus  far  from  this  missionary  work  and 

541 


542  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

to  outline  the  stages  of  the  reh'gious  development  which  has  taken 
place. 

I.  The  Results  of  Missions  in  Turkey.  —  The  results  most 
apparent  to  a  superficial  observer  are  the  missionary  institutions 
and  the  Protestant  churches.  Looking,  however,  more  in  detail, 
we  find,  first,  that  the  missionaries  have  been  introducers  of 
Western  civilization  into  the  interior  of  the  country.  This 
they  have  done  naturally  in  their  capacity  of  foreign  residents, 
and  in  company  with  other  foreigners  who  were  not  missionaries. 

Most  of  the  missionaries,  again,  being  American  or  English, 
the  introduction  of  the  English  language  and  literature  has 
marked  missionary  advance.  While  undoubtedly  this  has 
brought  commercial  advantages,  its  great  service  has  been  in 
putting  many  young  men  and  young  women  of  the  country  in 
touch  with  Western  learning  through  Anglo-Saxon  channels, 
and  in  setting  before  them  Anglo-Saxon  ideals.  This  has 
served  somewhat,  also,  to  counteract  the  current  of  low-grade 
French  literature  flowing  in  from  other  quarters. 

In  the  circles  more  intimately  under  missionary  influence 
a  new  standard  of  living  has  been  established.  This  has  been 
marked,  not  so  much  by  increased  comfort,  as  by  a  more  elevated 
taste  and  by  a  new  ideal  of  family  life.  Communities  which  have 
felt  missionary  influence  are  distinctly  different  from  those  which 
have  received  Western  civilization  predominantly  through  other 
influences. 

From  an  economic  point  of  view,  it  may  be  said  that,  wher- 
ever Protestant  ideas  have  gained  a  foothold,  men's  wills  have 
been  awakened,  and  there  has  resulted  indirectly  a  striving  for 
material  betterment  which  has  raised  the  Protestant  community 
definitely  above  the  level  of  the  general  population.  The 
missionaries  were  naturally  the  trustees  of  the  relief  funds  which 
poured  in  from  the  Christian  world  after  the  events  of  1895, 
and  this  aid  has  taken  more  or  less  permanent  form  in  the 
orphanages  scattered  through  Asia  Minor.  Of  more  lasting 
economic  value  are  likely  to  be  the  experiments  in  industrial 
education  which  are  beginning  at  various  missionary  centers. 

The  medical  work  has  accomplished  great  results  in  direct 
relief  and  in  winning  the  friendship  of  all  sections  of  the  com- 
munity. The  classes  of  native  doctors  sent  out  year  by  year 
from  the  missionary  medical  schools  have  multiplied  many  fold 


MISSIONS   IN   TURKEY  543 

the  effectiveness  of  the  work  of  the  foreign  physicians.  Mis- 
sionary and  native  practitioners  together  have  also  produced 
great  changes  in  the  common  ideas  of  the  care  of  the  sick,  of 
precautions  necessary  in  time  of  epidemic,  of  general  hygiene 
and  prevention  of  disease. 

From  an  educational  point  of  view,  missionary  work  has 
created  schools  where  practically  none  existed.  The  wisdom  of 
the  learned  of  fifty  years  ago  is  to-day  the  required  work  of 
boys  in  the  grammar  schools.  Christian  colleges  of  very  satis- 
factory grade  have  been  established  at  a  number  of  centers  in 
the  Turkish  Empire.  They  stand  in  several  instances  at  the 
head  of  more  or  less  thoroughly  organized  systems  of  common 
and  preparatory  schools  for  both  boys  and  girls.  Above  them 
in  turn  are  institutions  for  special  theological  and  medical  in- 
struction. The  common  and  preparatory  schools  are  often  under 
native,  or  under  joint  native  and  foreign,  control,  instead  of  be- 
ing under  purely  foreign  management;  and,  in  at  least  one  of 
the  higher  institutions,  a  native  faculty  and  native  control  are 
recognized  principles  which  have  been  put  into  successful  opera- 
tion. This  educational  revival  has  had  a  most  stimulating  effect 
on  the  other  communities.  They  are  realizing  more  and  more 
the  necessity  of  thorough  education,  and  are  giving  much  atten- 
tion to  the  improvement  of  their  schools. 

Prominent  among  the  fruits  of  missions  is  a  Christian  litera- 
ture. The  issue  of  the  whole  Bible  by  the  missionaries  in  the  five 
literary  languages  of  the  Empire  (Arabo-,  Armeno-,  and  Graeco- 
Turkish,  Arabic,  Armenian,  Greek,  and  Bulgarian)  laid  well 
the  external  foundation  for  the  work  of  evangelization.  The 
Armenian  translation  has  become  classic  through  its  influence 
on  the  formation  of  the  modern  Armenian  language.  In  ad- 
dition, the  list  of  religious  and  educational  books  sent  out  from 
the  mission  presses  in  the  different  languages  comprises  several 
hundred  titles,  and  successful  mission  papers,  as  well  as  many 
tracts,  are  published. 

In  the  sphere  of  directly  religious  activity,  the  missionaries 
have  given  to  Turkey  a  new  idea  of  the  spiritual  life  of  the  in- 
dividual, and  of  what  church-life  may  be.  The  Bible  in  the 
vernacular,  a  service  likewise  in  the  common  language,  regular 
preaching,  Bible-study,  Christian  experience,  prayer-meetings, 
young  people's  organizations  for  religious  work,  religious  awak- 


544  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

enings,  Congregational  self-government  —  these  are  things 
foreign  to  the  old  churches.  But,  because  they  have  a  basis  in 
human  nature,  and  because  they  are  also  natural  "fruits  of  the 
Spirit,"  they  have  made  for  themselves  a  place  in  Turkey. 
Their  influence,  too,  has  gone  far  beyond  the  limits  of  the  Prot- 
estant community.  In  many  places  it  may  be  said  that  practi- 
cally the  entire  membership  of  the  Gregorian  Church  has  come 
to  accept  the  Bible  as  the  final  court  of  appeal  in  religious  matters. 
In  not  a  few  instances,  new  methods  have  been  adopted,  such  as 
Scripture-reading  and  preaching-services  in  the  vernacular, 
young  people's  organizations,  and  Bible-study.  In  some  places 
also  there  have  arisen  vital,  evangelical  movements  within  the 
Gregorian  Church. 

This  purer  form  of  individual  and  organized  Christian  life 
has  had  its  influence  on  the  Mohammedan  population  as  well, 
and  they  do  not  hesitate  to  give  to  Protestantism  the  first 
place  after  Islam. 

The  missionary  significance  of  this  whole  movement,  however, 
is  to  be  measured  finally  by  the  degree  in  which  the  missionaries 
have  been  able  to  make  vital  Christianity  indigenous  in  Turkey. 
A  self-governing,  self-propagating,  and  self-supporting  native 
community  of  men  and  women  who  are  spiritually  alive,  must 
be  its  aim.  Glad  testimony  on  this  point  can  be  borne  to 
many  of  the  native  churches,  especially  where  the  missionary 
work  has  counted  its  more  marked  successes.  Were  the  mis- 
sionaries of  necessity  to  be  withdrawn  from  Turkey  to-morrow, 
in  these  places  the  vital  spiritual  life  which  is  the  kernel  of  the 
Protestant  movement  has  taken  firm  root  and  would  remain 
and  grow. 

Among  the  results  of  missionary  work  in  Turkey,  it  may  be 
thought  strange  not  to  mention  the  formation  of  a  Protestant 
civil  community.  While  the  project  received  much  assistance 
from  missionaries  and  from  the  representatives  of  Protestant 
Christendom,  it  was  not  a  part  of  the  original  missionary  plan. 
It  arose  rather  from  the  practical  necessity  of  securing  common 
rights  to  those  persecuted  on  religious  grounds,  and  it  has  stood 
since  its  formation  for  the  political  protection  in  Turkey  of  all 
members  of  the  Christian  races  who  might  be  so  oppressed. 
Called  into  being  under  such  necessity,  the  missionaries  have 
found  in  it,  however,  a  very  valuable  ally.     It  is  true  that  the 


MISSIONS   IN   TURKEY  545 

name  "Protestant"  has  been  applied  from  the  first  as  a  stigma, 
and  that  it  at  once  arouses  such  prejudice  in  many  places  as  to 
prevent  effective  religious  conversation  with  a  strenuous  adhe- 
rent of  one  of  the  old  churches;  but,  on  the  one  hand,  it  has 
given  an  objective  unity  to  the  more  progressive,  evangelical 
forces;  and  on  the  other,  the  very  existence  of  Protestantism 
as  a  separate  body  has  acted  as  a  spur  to  the  other  communities. 
Furthermore,  the  Protestant  community,  being  easier  of  access 
for  religious  and  missionary  influence,  it  has  been  possible  to 
lead  it  more  quickly  to  adopt  higher  ideals  of  Christian  life  and 
better  methods  of  Christian  work.  These  higher  forms,  as 
thus  exemplified,  have  then  affected  more  deeply  the  minds 
of  the  people  in  general.  The  later  developments  among  the 
Protestant  churches  include  vigorous  movements  toward  self- 
support  and  widespread  religious  awakenings  under  native 
leadership. 

2.  The  Stages  of  Development  of  Church  Life  in  Turkey. — 
Viewed  from  the  religious  side,  evangelical  work  in  Turkey  may 
be  said  in  general  to  have  passed  through  three  phases,  though 
the  development  has  not  been  uniform. 

The  early  preaching  was  clear  and  Biblical.  The  converts 
received  the  new  truth  in  the  face  of  persecution.  With  the 
new  light  they  accepted  also  a  new  moral  code.  Soon  Protes- 
tants became  famous  for  their  upright  lives,  the  government  even 
recognizing  that  the  word  of  a  Protestant  was  as  good  as  his  oath. 
Religious  discussion  was  the  prevailing  characteristic  of  this 
period.  The  Protestants  knew  their  Bibles  thoroughly,  and 
were  able  not  only  to  hold  their  own  in  argument,  but  to  press 
their  convictions;  and,  with  true  missionary  spirit,  they  set  out 
on  evangelistic  expeditions  of  their  own  to  neighboring  cities. 
In  many  cases  these  evangelists  earned  their  own  living  at  the 
same  time  by  their  ordinary  handicrafts.  Doubtless  in  this 
period  the  feeling  of  opposition  to  the  Gregorian  Church  was 
strong,  and  customs  in  themselves  harmless  were  spoken  against 
because  connected  with  that  Church. 

There  may  be  localities  to-day  in  Turkey  where  Protestantism 
is  still  in  this  its  first  stage,  where  intellectual  convictions  and 
moral  integrity,  together  with  church-antagonisms,  are  the 
center  for  the  life  of  the  Protestant  community,  and  where  the 
Protestants  are  continually  under  severe  fire. 


546  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

In  many  places,  however,  the  outcome  of  a  long  period  of  such 
discussion  was  the  virtual  popular  triumph  of  the  Evangelical 
position.  Not  that  the  people  were  ready  to  become  Protestants, 
but  that  the  undercurrent  of  religious  opinion  had  changed, 
and  there  was  general  acknowledgment  now  of  the  authority  of 
the  Bible,  the  Gregorian  clergy  even  recommending  it  and 
appealing  to  it.  This  intellectual  victory  gained,  and  a  new 
generation  arising  in  the  Protestant  community  without  the 
moral  and  spiritual  enthusiasm  of  their  fathers,  a  more  easy- 
going temper  began  to  prevail.  The  Protestant  churches  were 
well  instructed  by  a  native  ministry,  trained  under  missionary 
supervision.  But  the  feeling  of  necessity  for  strenuous  evangel- 
istic endeavor  was  lacking,  and  this  loss  of  purpose  led  to  laxity 
of  life  and  thought.  The  former  distinctions  between  Protes- 
tants and  Gregorians  began  to  disappear.  In  such  a  condition, 
the  Protestant  churches  could  hardly  possess  evangelizing 
power.  Their  struggle  was  to  hold  their  own  as  a  separate 
community  beside  the  Gregorians.  Yet  at  the  same  time 
these  churches  were  making  courageous  and  substantial  efforts 
toward  educational  advance  and  to  some  extent  toward  self- 
support.  It  was  into  this  situation  that  the  massacres  came  as 
the  voice  of  God  to  call  the  Armenian  people  back  to  Himself. 

Since  the  events  of  1895,  there  has  taken  place  in  various  parts 
of  Turkey  a  genuine,  and  in  some  cases  very  marked,  spiritual 
revival.  In  the  field  of  the  Central  Turkey  Mission  there  are 
few  churches  which  have  not  felt  its  power,  and  its  influence  has 
passed  over  into  the  Gregorian  Church.  Sometimes  this  move- 
ment has  been  misunderstood,  and  sometimes  harm  has  come  to 
it  from  the  conduct  of  those  who  wished  to  be  its  friends;  but 
it  has  in  it  the  missionary  fervor  of  the  early  days,  based  on  a 
foundation  of  personal,  spiritual  experience,  and  it  contains  the 
spring  of  new  life  for  the  Protestant  as  well  as  the  Gregorian 
churches,  and  for  the  Mohammedan  community.  Its  fruits 
are  already  apparent  in  quickened  churches,  evangelistic  aggres- 
siveness, multiplied  conversions,  evangelical  movements  within 
the  Gregorian  Church,  and  the  practical  beginnings  of  native 
missionary  work  for  Jews  and  Mohammedans. 

There  is  not  space  to  indicate  here  the  lessons  regarding 
missionary  policy  which  may  be  learned  from  this  history. 
Nor  can  we  enlarge  upon   the  serious  problems   involved  in 


MISSIONS   IN   TURKEY 


547 


the  present  religious  situation  in  Turkey,  centering  about  the 
missionaries,  the  Protestant  churches,  the  Gregorian  Church, 
and  the  Mohammedans. 

The  recent  change  of  the  Ottoman  Empire  to  a  constitutional 
form  of  government  has  opened  a  new  era  in  its  history,  not  less 
profoundly  full  of  meaning  for  the  Kingdom  of  God  than  for 
the  immediate  welfare  of  the  subjects  of  the  Sultan.  Industrial 
freedom,  intellectual  freedom,  educational  freedom,  religious 
freedom,  all  seem  to  have  been  granted,  explicitly  or  tacitly,  at 
a  single  stroke.  Are  the  evangelical  Christians  of  Turkey 
in  a  position  to  make  use  of  this  opportunity?  This  is  not  the 
time  for  missions  in  Turkey  to  retrench,  but  to  render  to  the 
native  Evangelical  churches  all  the  support  which  they  may 
need.  Through  three  quarters  of  a  century  there  has  been  the 
laying  of  broad  foundations.  Now  begin  the  awaited  years  of 
privilege.  The  glory  of  another  empire,  healed  by  the  touch  of 
the  Great  Physician,  will  soon  be  unveiled  before  us.  Let  His 
Church  not  be  slack  in  offering  freely  to  these  nations  the  mes- 
sage of  the  eternal  life  through  Him. 


MISSIONS   IN   INDIA 

Rev.  William  Hazen 
Sholapur,  India 

No  sketch,  even  in  outline,  of  the  progress  of  Christian  mis- 
sions in  India  can  pass  untouched  the  progress  in  poHtical  and 
social  matters  that  has  taken  place  within  the  period  under  dis- 
cussion. Not  only  have  the  political  and  social  conditions  of  the 
country  been  of  great  service  to  the  cause  of  missions,  but  also 
progress  in  these  departments  has  been  due  both  directly  and 
indirectly  to  Christianity.  Action  and  reaction  continually  take 
place. 

The  India  of  1834  was  a  country,  or  rather  a  continent,  just 
beginning  to  emerge  from  mediae valism.  The  India  of  1909 
shows  all  the  signs  of  the  birth  of  a  great  nation,  and  is  passing 
through  the  throes  of  a  struggle  for  the  development  of  national 
life.  These  words  summarize  as  well  as  any  can  do  the  progress 
of  India  in  political  and  social  matters  during  seventy-five  years. 

In  1834,  the  map  of  India  was  not  very  different  from  what  it 
is  to-day.  The  three  great  Presidencies  of  Bengal,  Madras, 
and  Bombay  were  very  much  as  at  present.  The  Panjab  and 
Burma  had  not  yet  been  invaded  by  British  arms,  and  Oude 
had  not  yet  been  annexed.  These  were  the  chief  sections  of  the 
country  not  yet  under  direct  British  rule.  The  frontier  policy, 
which  has  exercised  so  many  minds  in  modern  times,  was  still 
unknown.  Yet  British  rule  was  already  practically  supreme  in 
the  Indian  peninsula;  the  power  of  the  Maratha  princes  was 
broken;   the  proud  empire  of  the  Moguls  was  but  a  shadow. 

Lord  William  Bentinck's  period  of  service  as  Governor-Gen- 
eral (1828-35)  was  not  distinguished  by  military  victories  or 
by  additions  to  the  empire.  The  poHcy  insisted  upon  by  the 
Company  at  home,  which  accorded  with  the  tastes  of  the 
Governor- General,  was  that  of  non-intervention,  or  allowing  the 
native  races  to  work  out  their  own  salvation.  Lord  William 
Bentinck's  rule  was,  however,  marked  by  financial  reforms: 
reduction  of  expenditure  and  increase  of  revenue ;  the  abolition 

548 


MISSIONS   IN   INDIA  549 

of  saii  and  suppression  of  thagi,  two  barbarous  practices  wide- 
spread and  destructive  of  society;  and  the  opening  of  public 
office  to  the  natives  more  freely  than  previously.  His  rule  may 
therefore  be  said  to  be  the  beginning  of  modem  India. 

The  chief  political  events  of  the  last  seventy-five  years  need 
only  to  be  enumerated  :  the  Afghan  wars  of  1839-44  and  1878- 
80,  significant  chiefly  because  of  the  ever  pressing  frontier  ques- 
tion; the  conquest  of  the  Pan  jab  from  the  Sikhs  in  1845-49, 
and  of  Burma,  1852;  the  widespread  annexations  of  Lord 
Dalhousie,  and  the  closely  following  Mutiny  of  1857  ;  the  begin- 
ning of  Crown  rule,  and  the  Queen's  proclamation  in  1858;  the 
gradual  development  of  government  in  the  interests  of  the  people, 
and  especially  of  self-government,  under  successive  Viceroys 
from  Lord  Mayo  to  the  Earl  of  Minto ;  the  rise  of  the  National 
Congress  movement  from  1886  onward;  the  rapid  growth  of  na- 
tional aspirations,  culminating  in  the  disorders  of  1907  and  1908; 
and  the  slow  and  careful  preparation  of  an  enlarged  scheme 
for  more  representative  government,  presented  by  Lord  Morley, 
the  Secretary  of  State  for  India,  in  December,  1908. 

India  is  still  far  from  being  a  nation,  but  she  is  on  the  way  toward 
becoming  one.  She  is  suffering  from  the  confusion  and  turmoil 
caused  by  the  ferment  of  new  ideas,  and  there  are  still  too  many 
discordant  and  divisive  voices  to  make  a  united  nation ;  but  the 
leaven  is  at  work,  and  the  next  few  years  are  bound  to  see  a  much 
more  rapid  development  than  any  similar  period  in  her  history. 

Passing  from  political  changes  to  those  affecting  more  closely 
the  life  of  the  people,  beginning  with  the  purely  material,  the 
industrial  development  of  India  is  worthy  of  notice.  India  has 
always  been  a  land  of  agriculturists.  Though  her  craftsmen 
have  been  famous  in  centuries  past,  yet  most  of  the  people 
have  always  been  cultivators.  Deriving  their  sustenance  directly 
from  the  soil,  they  have  been  especially  sensitive  to  the  climatic 
conditions  on  which  the  produce  of  the  soil  depends.  There 
is  scarcely  a  year  in  which  there  is  not  a  failure  of  crops  in  some 
part  of  India,  which  results  in  scarcity  and  famine,  depending  in 
severity  upon  the  extent  of  the  territory  affected.  Native  rulers 
could  do  little  to  cope  with  the  terrible  visitations  which  some- 
times came  upon  their  subjects.  The  great  famine  of  1877-78 
was  attended  with  widespread  suffering,  which  the  efforts  of 
the  Government  were  unable  to  avert.     Similarly,  in  1900-01, 


550  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

nearly  the  whole  country  was  afflicted  with  drought,  and  distress 
was  widespread,  but  the  Government's  ability  to  cope  with  it  had 
increased,  and  large  gifts  of  money  and  food  from  abroad  helped 
greatly  to  relieve  suffering.  The  famine  policy  of  the  Govern- 
ment and  the  machinery  for  carrying  it  into  effect  are  now  so 
thoroughly  shaped,  that,  with  the  appearance  of  famine  in  any 
section,  the  machinery  of  rehef,  whether  in  the  form  of  loans  to 
cultivators,  suspension  and  remission  of  land  revenue,  relief 
works,  and  public  charity,  is  at  once  put  into  operation,  and  car- 
ried out  almost  automatically.  At  the  same  time,  the  develop- 
ment of  railways  and  canals  for  communication,  and  the  im- 
mense annual  expenditure  on  irrigation  works  throughout  India, 
are  year  by  year  contributing  to  the  solution  of  the  problem. 

The  India  of  to-day  is  passing  through  a  remarkable  stage  of 
industrial  development.  The  mineral  wealth  of  the  country,  in 
the  gold  mines  of  Mysore,  the  coal  and  iron  mines  of  the  Central 
Provinces,  and  elsewhere,  is  barely  beginning  to  be  exploited. 
There  has  been  within  a  few  years  a  large  increase  in  the  growth 
of  cotton  and  other  textile  fibers,  to  meet  the  demands  caused  by 
the  increase  of  factories.  The  number  of  cotton-mills  and  mills 
of  other  sorts  is  rapidly  increasing,  and  the  proper  regulation  of 
labor  conditions  in  them  is  a  problem  of  pressing  importance. 

The  national  movement  of  the  past  twenty  years  has  exercised 
a  considerable  influence  in  stimulating  industrial  development. 
What  is  known  as  the  Swadeshi  movement,  meaning  in  its  widest 
aspect  the  effort  to  revive  the  national  industries,  though  partly 
connected  with  the  senseless  idea  of  boycotting  British  goods  as  a 
protest  against  measures  carried  out  by  the  British  Government, 
has,  nevertheless,  produced  a  beneficial  effect  in  stimulating 
native  industries.  The  native  has  begun  to  see  the  advantage 
of  investing  his  capital  in  profitable  industry;  and  while  the 
surface  features  of  this  movement  will  pass  away,  the  economic 
effect  of  the  agitation  which  has  gone  on  in  India  for  the  past  five 
years  is  sure  to  be  great  and  far-reaching. 

The  spread  of  education  is  another  noteworthy  feature  in  the 
record  of  social  changes.  India  is  still  a  country  of  deep  and 
widespread  ignorance  and  illiteracy;  but  the  increased  interest 
in  education  among  vast  masses  of  the  people,  and  the  rapid 
increase  in  the  number  of  men  of  high  school  and  college  educa- 
tion, are  full  of  promise  for  the  future.     The  number  of  young 


MISSIONS   IN   INDIA  551 

men  who  go  abroad,  to  England,  the  Continent,  and  to  America, 
for  special  technical  or  professional  study  is  significant. 

The  development  of  the  press  is  one  of  the  signs  of  progress  in 
India.  Vernacular  journals  spring  up  like  mushrooms  all  over 
the  country.  Many  of  them  are  not  helpful  in  forming  a  really 
enlightened  public  opinion,  but  there  are  some  published  in  every 
language-area  that  would  be  a  credit  to  any  country,  while  sev- 
eral of  the  English  journals  under  native  management  have  an 
excellent  character,  and  are  exercising  a  profound  influence  in 
shaping  the  national  thought.  These  journals  go  all  over  India, 
and  are  read  in  libraries  and  reading-rooms.  They  comment 
on  one  another's  remarks,  and  the  result  is  a  widespread  ex- 
change of  opinion  that  is  rapidly  working  for  the  unification  of 
the  people.  Much  of  this  comment  is  hostile,  and  more  of  it 
critical,  in  its  attitude  toward  the  British  Government  in  India. 
As  a  rule  it  is  not  sympathetic  in  its  treatment  of  Christianity. 
Its  main  concern  at  present  is  political,  not  religious ;  and  it  has 
Httle  interest  in  the  deeper  things  of  the  life  of  man. 

At  the  beginning  of  our  period,  as  I  have  noted  already, 
the  suppression  of  sati,  or  widow-burning,  took  place.  That 
achievement  might  be  described  as  the  first  onslaught  on  the 
mighty  citadel  of  Hindu  religious  and  social  custom.  The  most 
conspicuous  feature  of  that  edifice  to  the  outside  observer  is  the 
system  of  caste,  which  is  the  fundamental  institution  of  Indian 
society.  That  system  has  undergone  a  great  modification  dur- 
ing our  period.  The  spread  of  education,  the  introduction  of 
railways,  which  know  no  distinctions  but  those  for  which  a  man 
can  pay,  the  rise  of  new  industrial  combinations,  the  increase  of 
trade,  have  all  tended  to  do  away  with  the  exclusiveness  of  caste, 
and  make  it  possible  for  different  sections  to  approach  each  other. 

Few  Hindu  reformers  are  bold  enough  openly  to  advocate 
intermarriage  between  different  castes,  but  many  advocate 
interdining,  and  intermarriage  between  sub-castes,  of  which 
there  are  countless  numbers.  The  impartiality  of  Government 
makes  it  impossible  for  Government  positions  to  be  held  en- 
tirely by  Brahmans,  though  they  still  are  far  in  the  lead  amongst 
the  educated  people  of  the  land.  Many  associations  for  social 
improvement  are  exercising  a  helpful  influence  against  child- 
marriage,  extravagance  in  marriage  expenses,  enforced  widow- 
hood, and  other  customs  of  baneful  influence. 


552  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

The  period  under  review  has  not  been  without  its  extensive 
and  influential  religious  movements  amongst  Hindus  themselves, 
some  cyclonic  and  temporary  in  character,  others  more  lasting 
and  beneficial.  The  Brahmo  Samaj  of  Calcutta,  the  Prarthana 
Samaj  of  Bombay,  both  theistic  organizations,  modeling  them- 
selves much  after  the  Christian  Church  and  adopting  without 
hesitation  whatever  they  consider  to  be  of  value  in  Christianity, 
have  doubtless  had  a  large  influence;  but  it  cannot  be  said  that 
they  possess  great  vitality  or  power.  The  Arya  Samaj,  mostly 
in  the  Panjab,  a  society  professing  to  return  to  Vedic  principles, 
is  more  anti-Christian.  Various  other  cults  and  societies  have 
sprung  up  in  different  sections  of  the  country,  as  has  ever  been 
the  case  in  this  soil  so  fruitful  for  religious  developments. 

Coming  now  to  the  more  distinctive  features  of  the  missionary 
movement  of  the  past  seventy-five  years,  it  is  at  the  outset  to  be 
remarked,  that  in  1834  the  missionary  movement  was  still  in  its 
infancy.  Protestant  missions  in  India  were  indeed  begun  far 
back  in  the  eighteenth  century,  with  the  coming  of  the  Danish 
missionaries,  Ziegenbalg  and  Plutschau,  to  Tranquebar;  and  the 
close  of  that  century  witnessed  the  arrival  of  Carey  in  Seram- 
pore,  and  the  opening  of  work  by  the  London  Missionary  Society 
in  Calcutta.  But  a  sketch  of  the  situation  in  each  province  will 
indicate  how  rudimentary  was  the  condition  of  the  missionary 
work  in  1834. 

In  Bengal  and  the  Ganges  Valley  the  Baptist  Missionary 
Society,  founded  by  Carey  in  1793,  had  in  1810  extended  itself 
to  Orissa,  Bostan,  Patna,  and  Agra,  and  in  1818  to  Dacca, 
Benares,  and  Delhi.  The  charter  of  the  Serampore  College  was 
obtained  from  the  Danish  Government  in  1829,  so  that  the 
growth  of  that  institution  falls  within  our  period.  It  is  worth 
noting  in  passing  that  a  movement  is  now  on  foot  to  enlarge  it, 
and  make  it  a  Christian  university,  widely  representative  of  the 
Protestant  missions  of  India. 

The  London  Missionary  Society  had  begun  work  in  Chinsura 
in  Benares  in  1820,  and  in  Berhampore  in  1824.  The  Church 
Missionary  Society  established  schools  at  Kidderpore  and  Dum- 
dum in  181 5;  and  began  work  in  Burdwan,  181 6;  Benares,  181 7; 
Chunar,  181 5;  Goruckpore,  1823;  Krishnagar,  1831;  Agra, 
181 2.  The  English  Wesleyans  opened  work  in  Calcutta  in  1829. 
The  General  Baptists  of  England  established  stations  at  Cut- 


MISSIONS   IN   INDIA  553 

tack  in  1822,  Balasore  in  1827,  and  Midnapore  in  1836.  Dr. 
Duff,  the  first  missionary  of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  arrived  in 
Calcutta  in  1830. 

In  the  Madras  Presidency,  besides  the  Danish  missions  al- 
ready referred  to,  work  was  opened  by  the  London  Missionary 
Society  at  Madras  and  Vizagapata  in  1804,  in  Travancore  in 
1806,  at  Bellary  in  1810,  and  Bangalore  in  1820.  The  Church 
Missionary  Society  had  sent  in  18 18  two  missionaries  to  Tran- 
quebar,  and  in  1816-17  established  work  in  Madras,  Tinnevelli, 
and  Travancore.  The  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gos- 
pel began  in  Bangalore  and  Cuddapah  in  181 7,  took  over  the 
work  of  the  Christian  Knowledge  Society  in  Madras  in  1825, 
and  in  1820  the  Danish  missions  in  Tanjore,  Trichinopoli,  and 
Cuddalore.  It  established  work  in  Tinnevelli  in  1829,  and 
the  episcopal  see  of  Madras  was  formed  in  1835.  ^^^  English 
Wesleyans  began  work  in  Madras,  181 7;  Trichinopoli,  1818; 
Negapatam,  1821 ;  Bangalore,  1820.  The  American  Board  be- 
gan work  in  Madura,  as  an  off-shoot  of  its  Ceylon  Mission,  in 
1834,  and  at  Madras  in  1836.  The  Basel  Evangelical  Mission 
sent  three  missionaries  in  1883,  who  settled  in  Mangalore. 

In  the  Bombay  Presidency,  the  first  missionaries  were  Gordon 
Hall  and  Samuel  Nott  of  the  American  Board,  who  arrived  in 
1813,  having  been  refused  admission  at  Calcutta.  Even  in 
Bombay,  they  were  at  first  allowed  to  remain  only  on  sufferance. 
This  was  the  beginning  of  the  Marathi  Mission  of  the  American 
Board.  Ahmednagar  was  occupied  as  a  station  in  183 1,  but  all 
the  other  developments  of  the  work  of  that  mission  are  subse- 
quent to  the  beginning  of  this  period,  no  other  station  being 
opened  until  1842,  when  Sirur  was  occupied. 

The  Church  Missionary  Society  began  work  in  Bombay  in 
1820,  establishing  the  Robert  Money  School,  a  valuable  and  in- 
fluential institution  up  to  the  present  day.  Nasik  was  opened 
by  them  in  1832. 

The  Church  of  Scotland  sent  missionaries  to  Bombay  in  1822, 
who  labored  first  in  the  southern  Konkan,  or  coast  plain.  They 
also  began  work  in  Bombay,  establishing  the  educational  in- 
stitution which  is  now  Wilson  College.  Since  the  Disruption 
of  1843,  this  work  has  been  carried  on  by  the  Free  Church. 

In  the  Panjab,  the  American  Presbyterians  began  work  at 
Ludhiana  in  1834,  and  a  church  was  organized  in  1837.  Delhi 
had  been  occupied  by  the  Baptists  as  early  as  1818. 


554  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

Surveying  the  whole  country,  it  will  readily  be  seen  that  mis- 
sionary work  had  only  just  begun  in  1834.  The  Presidency 
towns  of  Calcutta,  Madras,  and  Bombay  were  occupied,  a  line  of 
stations  extended  up  the  Ganges  Valley,  while  in  the  southern 
Presidency  various  stations  were  opened,  from  Tinnevelli  in  the 
south  to  Bangalore  in  Mysore,  In  the  Bombay  Presidency,  only 
two  stations  were  opened,  and  in  the  Panjab  only  two.  The 
Central  Provinces,  Central  India,  Rajputana,  Sind,  the  Ni- 
zam's Territory,  were  as  yet  untouched.  Our  rapid  survey  is 
enough  to  show  both  how  little  territory  in  India  as  a  whole  was 
actually  occupied  in  1834,  and  how  few  results  were  apparent. 
Some  missions,  in  which  the  converts  are  now  numbered  by 
thousands,  had  then  not  a  single  convert.  Educational  institu- 
tions which  are  now  of  immense  influence  were  then  in  their  first 
feeble  beginnings. 

To  show  fully  the  progress  of  seventy-five  years  would  require 
an  enumeration  of  all  the  societies  at  work,  the  stations  occupied, 
and  the  institutions  established,  for  which  we  have  here  no  space. 
A  missionary  map  of  India  at  the  present  time  shows  the  country 
well  dotted  with  mission  stations,  every  important  political  and 
linguistic  area  being  occupied.  The  chief  regions  still  sparsely 
covered  are  the  Nizam's  Territory  and  the  native  states  of 
Central  India  and  Rajputana. 

Statistics  of  missionaries,  converts,  and  pupils  are  not  avail- 
able so  far  back  as  1834;  but  it  will  be  interesting  to  note  that 
in  1 85 1  there  were  in  India  21  societies  at  work,  as  against 
over  60  at  the  present  day;  that  the  number  of  foreign  work- 
ers (ordained)  in  185 1  in  India,  Burma,  and  Ceylon  was  395, 
while  in  1901  the  total  was  1095,  ^^^  the  foreign  lay-workers 
amounted  to  1500.  In  1908,  from  a  rough  calculation  based 
on  the  Missionary  Directory,  the  total  number  of  foreign  work- 
ers must  have  been  over  4000.  The  native  ordained  workers  in 
1850  were  48,  in  1901,  1089,  while  the  native  lay-agents  num- 
bered 17,000.  In  185 1  the  total  number  of  communicants  in 
the  Protestant  missions  was  18,000,  and  the  total  number  of 
the  Christian  community  112,000;  while  in  1901  the  numbers 
reported  were  about  355,000  and  1,000,000.  The  number  of 
school  pupils  in  185 1  was  78,000,  in  1900  nearly  400,000. 

These  contrasted  figures  tell  sufficiently  the  story  of  the  nu- 
merical increase  of  half  a  century;  the  contrast  with  figures  for 


MISSIONS    IN   INDIA  555 

1834,  if  such  were  available,  would  be  still  greater.  These 
figures,  however,  are  but  the  barest  index  to  the  progress  of 
Christian  missions.  The  whole  intellectual,  social,  and  religious 
impression  made  by  the  missions  in  India  cannot  easily  be  esti- 
mated. Certain  outstanding  facts  are  all  that  can  be  recorded 
in  this  article. 

The  first  of  these  to  which  I  wish  to  call  attention  is  the 
breadth  and  comprehensiveness  of  the  work.  Missions  at  the 
present  day  have  no  narrow  scope  or  outlook,  but  aim  at  the 
complete  transformation  of  the  individual  and  the  regeneration 
of  society.  The  very  first  missionaries  in  this  country  saw  in 
education  an  important  agency  for  the  uplifting  of  the  people. 
It  may  be  that,  in  the  minds  of  many,  it  existed  solely  as  an  ad- 
junct, as  a  means  of  bringing  the  Gospel  to  people.  Whatever 
may  have  been  its  aim  at  the  beginning,  it  is  now  a  vital  and  es- 
sential part  of  missionary  work,  and  its  value  is  generally  esti- 
mated, not  so  much  in  the  actual  conversions  traceable  to  the 
schools,  but  in  their  leavening  power  in  the  mass  of  the  people. 
The  eighty  theological  and  training  institutions,  the  forty  Chris- 
tian colleges,  the  four  hundred  high  schools,  and  over  six 
thousand  primary  schools,  constitute  an  agency  of  immense 
power  and  far-reaching  influence. 

The  work  of  missionaries  in  the  line  of  industrial  and  social 
improvement  is  considerable.  Somewhat  over  one  hundred 
industrial  schools  were  reported  in  1900,  but  probably  this  does 
not  include  a  large  number  of  schools  and  colleges  which  pro- 
vide manual  training  in  some  form  or  other  as  an  adjunct  to 
literary  work.  Industrial  training  is  generally  recognized  as 
necessary  for  giving  poor  Christians  a  means  of  support ;  but  it 
is  far  more  than  that ;  it  is  an  important  item  in  the  effort  for 
social  upbuilding.  One  helpful  form  of  social  effort  is  the  es- 
tablishment of  Christian  villages  and  rural  communities;  for, 
while  the  tendency  of  India  to-day  is  rapidly  to  form  industrial 
combinations,  and  the  factory  system  is  spreading  very  fast,  the 
effort  to  improve  rural  and  agricultural  conditions  is  of  prime 
importance.  Famine  relief  also  has  bulked  largely  in  the  in- 
dustrial and  social  work  of  missions.  It  may  be  necessary  to 
continue  it  for  years  to  come,  as  periodical  famines  are  to  be 
expected. 

The  work  of  ministering  to  men's  bodies  through  medical  and 


556  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

surgical  means  is  also  of  great  importance,  and  has  undergone  a 
wide  development.  In  1900,  one  hundred  and  twenty -nine 
hospitals  and  two  hundred  and  twenty-two  dispensaries  were 
in  operation  in  India  and  Ceylon,  with  a  total  staff  of  over  two 
hundred  workers  with  degrees  or  other  academic  qualifications, 
and  five  hundred  assistants.  The  increase  of  medical  education 
brings  yearly  more  and  more  qualified  native  practitioners  within 
reach  of  the  people.  Yet  the  influence  of  the  Christian  physi- 
cian and  surgeon  is  immense.  Patients  travel  hundreds  of 
miles  to  mission  hospitals,  and  the  results  of  this  multiplied  min- 
istry to  human  suffering  are  beyond  computation. 

Not  the  least  of  the  agencies  of  the  modern  missionary  move- 
ment is  the  printing-press,  though  its  work  is  often  not  con- 
spicuous, and  its  effects  impossible  to  compute.  About  seventy 
Christian  periodicals  are  reported.  The  value  of  these  does  not 
depend  solely  on  their  paid  circulation,  for  many  of  them  go  into 
libraries  and  reading-rooms  where  they  are  seen  by  large 
numbers  of  non-Christians.  In  counteracting  the  evil  effects 
of  many  anti-Christian  or  irreligious  papers,  these  are  of  im- 
mense value. 

The  breadth  and  variety  of  missionary  operations  in  India 
are  thus  briefly  indicated.  The  Church  of  Christ  has,  and 
should  still  have,  the  widest  scope  for  her  work,  and  use  all 
the  means  at  her  command  for  an  all-round  application  of 
Christianity  to  the  social,  mental,  moral,  and  spiritual  needs 
of  men. 

Another  line  of  suggestive  study  concerning  the  progress  of 
missions  is  the  advance  of  the  Christian  community  in  inteUi- 
gence,  thrift,  weight,  influence,  and  spiritual  power  in  the  gen- 
eral community.  Comparatively  few  of  its  members  have 
come  from  the  higher  castes  or  from  the  educated  classes,  the 
hereditary  leaders  of  the  people.  Those  who  have  come  from 
those  classes  are  leaders  of  power  and  widespread  influence; 
but  the  progress  of  Christian  missions  is  not  to  be  measured  so 
much  by  these  leaders  as  by  those  who  have  come  up  from  the 
lowest  castes,  and  by  the  general  improvement  of  the  Christian 
community  in  intelligence,  morality,  and  power.  Consideration 
of  these  matters  gives  cause  for  rejoicing  and  pride. 


MISSIONS   IN   BURMA 

Rev.  Jesse  Fowler  Smith 
Rangoon,  Burma 

Protestant  missionary  work  in  Burma  began  with  the  ar- 
rival of  Adoniram  Judson  in  1813.  At  that  time  the  country- 
was  ruled  by  a  bigoted  despot ;  but  in  consequence  of  wars  with 
England  in  1824,  1854,  and  1855,  the  Burmese  kingdom  and  its 
tributary  states  became  an  integral  part  of  the  Indian  Empire. 
Owing  to  the  opposition  of  the  Burmese  government,  Christianity 
made  little  progress  before  the  advent  of  the  English,  but  when 
the  power  of  British  arms  had  subdued  the  country  and  had  prom- 
ised protection  to  missionaries  and  native  converts,  missionary 
work  entered  upon  a  career  of  steady  advance.  The  new  mission 
stations  planted  in  the  wake  of  the  British  army  from  1826  to 
1890  have  been  no  small  factor  in  the  pacification  of  the  country. 

Previous  to  1834  the  American  Baptists  had  sent  twenty-eight 
missionaries  to  Burma;  twenty-two  of  these  were  in  active  serv- 
ice in  1834,  and  in  that  year  a  party  of  no  less  than  fourteen 
sailed  from  Boston  to  reenforce  the  Burman  mission.  Their 
arrival  inaugurated  an  era  of  expansion  and  advance. 

During  the  period  under  review  the  Bible  in  their  own  tongue 
has  been  given  to  the  principal  races  of  Burma.  Mr.  Judson 
completed  his  translation  of  the  Bible  into  Burmese  in  1834. 
In  1843  Mason's  translation  of  the  New  Testament  was  issued 
in  Sgaw  Karen,  to  be  followed  by  the  Old  Testament  ten  years 
later.  Haswell  translated  the  New  Testament  into  Talain  in  1847. 
Brayton's  version  of  the  Bible  in  Pwo  Karen  appeared  in  1883, 
and  Cushing's  version  in  Shan,  in  1891.  Since  1896  the  New  Testa- 
ment has  been  given  to  the  Kachins  by  Hanson,  and  work  on  the 
Old  Testament  is  rapidly  nearing  completion.  A  portion  of 
the  New  Testament  only  has  as  yet  been  translated  into  Chin. 

In  all  of  these  languages  hymn-books  and  tracts  have  followed 
the  translation  of  the  New  Testament.     In  the  Burmese,  and 

557 


558  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

particularly  in  the  Sgaw  Karen,  a  rather  extensive  Christian 
literature  has  been  prepared  by  missionaries  and  native  converts, 
including  commentaries,  sermons,  church  histories,  and  manuals 
of  theology,  homiletics,  and  ethics.  Since  1842  a  Burmese  re- 
ligious monthly  has  been  issued  from  the  American  Baptist 
Mission  Press,  and  a  similar  paper  in  Sgaw  Karen  dates  from 
1843.  Sunday-school  monthlies,  containing  expositions  of  the 
International  Sunday-school  Lessons,  have,  for  the  last  quarter- 
century,  been  published  in  Burmese,  Sgaw  Karen,  and  Pwo 
Karen.  In  amount,  character,  and  importance  for  the  future 
development  of  the  Kingdom,  the  literary  progress  of  the  last 
seventy-five  years  has  been  truly  remarkable. 

The  Karen  Literary  and  Theological  Institution  was  organized 
by  Rev.  J.  G.  Binney,  D.D.,  in  1845.  It  is  to-day  the  largest 
theological  seminary  in  Asia,  and  has  been  throughout  its  history 
a  mighty  factor  in  the  development  of  an  indigenous  Chris- 
tianity. The  Burman  Theological  Seminary  has  grown  out  of 
various  training-classes  for  native  pastors  conducted  by  mission- 
aries. As  a  distinct  institution  it  exists  side  by  side  with  the 
Karen  Seminary,  and  accepts  for  training  all  candidates  for  the 
ministry  who  do  not  speak  Karen. 

A  school,  bearing  the  name  of  college,  was  established  at 
Rangoon  in  1872.  For  ten  years  it  led  a  precarious  existence, 
and  in  1882  became  a  high  school  affiliated  with  the  University  of 
Calcutta.  Twelve  years  later  it  became  a  college  in  fact,  and  is 
now  "the  only  Christian  college  in  Burma,  the  chief  source  of 
supply  of  trained  workers  both  for  the  schools  and  the  churches. 
It  sends  out  trained  teachers  and  shares  with  the  Theological 
Seminary  in  the  work  of  training  pastors." 

The  first  home-missionary  society  was  formed  by  the  Karens 
of  the  Bassein  district  in  1850,  to  be  entirely  under  the  direction 
of  the  Karens,  and  to  send  out  missionaries  for  the  unevangelized 
of  their  own  race.  Similar  societies  have  since  been  formed  on 
the  other  Karen  fields. 

In  1865  missionaries  and  native  Christian  leaders  organized  at 
Rangoon  the  Burma  Baptist  Missionary  Convention  for  "the 
diflfusion  and  promotion  of  the  Christian  religion  throughout 
Burma  and  adjacent  countries."  Missionaries  of  this  society 
have  labored  among  the  Karens  of  northern  Siam,  among  Bur- 
mans,  Talains,  Kachins,  Chins,  and  Shans.     The  society  has 


MISSIONS   IN  BURMA  559 

been  largely  instrumental  in  developing  the  benevolence  and 
missionary  zeal  of  the  native  church. 

Missionary  effort  in  Burma  was  first  put  forth  for  the  Bur- 
mans,  the  dominant  race  in  numbers  and  influence;  but  the 
greatest  numerical  gains  for  Christianity  have  been  among  the 
Karens,  who  constitute  about  one  eighth  of  the  population. 
Other  races  have  not  been  neglected.  Work  for  Shans  has  been 
prosecuted  since  i860,  for  Chins  since  1882,  and  intermittently 
for  the  Talains  for  the  last  seventy  years.  Some  attention  is 
devoted  to  the  Tamils,  Telugus,  and  Chinese,  all  immigrant 
peoples,  and  three  congregations  of  Eurasians  are  connected 
with  the  Baptist  Mission. 

Until  1859  the  Baptists  labored  alone  in  Burma.  In  that  year 
the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  began  operations, 
and  at  the  present  time  maintains  a  force  of  twenty-two  missions 
in  work  for  Burmans,  Karens,  Chins,  Tamils,  and  Eurasians. 
Especial  attention  has  been  given  to  educational  work,  and  con- 
nected with  this  mission  are  two  high  schools,  two  Bible  training- 
schools,  a  hospital,  an  orphanage,  and  a  printing-press. 

The  American  Methodists  began  work  in  Rangoon  in  1879 
among  the  English-speaking  population,  and  have  since  taken 
up  work  both  educational  and  evangelistic  for  Burmans,  Tamils, 
Telugus,  and  Chinese.  Their  present  force  numbers  eighteen 
missionaries,  with  one  high  school,  a  Bible  training-school,  and 
an  orphanage. 

In  upper  Burma  the  Wesley  an  Missionary  Society  planted  a 
mission  in  1889.  Four  mission  stations,  a  flourishing  high  school, 
and  a  leper  asylum  at  Mandalay  are  sustained  by  this  society. 
Work  for  Tamils  and  Telugus  is  carried  on  in  Rangoon  by  the 
Evangelical  Lutherans,  and  in  the  same  city  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  conducts  an  effective  work  for  European 
young  men  and  for  the  numerous  students  of  the  city.  A  finely 
equipped  building  was  dedicated  in  1906. 

In  1834  there  was  a  Protestant  Christian  community  of  less 
than  400  in  Burma.  The  census  of  1901  gives  the  Protestant 
Christian  population  as  124,069.  In  1908  the  Baptist  mission 
included  197  missionaries  and  1937  native  workers.  The 
membership  of  the  841  churches  was  62,653.  Schools  of  all 
grades  numbered  684  and  were  attended  by  26,513  pupils.  Such 
has  been  the  mere  numerical  increase  in  seventy-five  years. 


56o  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

In  the  development  of  the  work  two  features  are  deserving 
of  special  emphasis,  one  a  characteristic  of  the  work  of  all  mission 
boards  in  Burma,  the  other  a  special  feature  of  the  Baptist  mis- 
sion. 

1.  The  educational  method  has  been  adopted  from  the  start. 
The  primary  school  has  been  the  nursery  of  the  Church,  while 
schools  of  higher  grade  have  provided  her  with  trained  leaders, 
so  that  from  the  ranks  of  the  native  Church  Christian  teachers, 
preachers,  and  evangelists  have  cooperated  with  the  mission- 
aries in  the  advancement  of  the  Kingdom  in  Burma. 

2.  Early  in  the  history  of  the  Baptist  mission  the  policy  of 
planting  self-supporting  and  self-propagating  churches  was 
adopted,  and  this  policy  has  been  consistently  pursued.  Of 
the  841  churches  existing  in  1908,  699  are  entirely  self-support- 
ing. At  the  same  time  the  work  of  the  Karen  Home  Mission 
Societies  and  of  the  Burma  Baptist  Missionary  Convention  is 
vigorously  promoted.  Says  Dr.  Merriam  in  his  History  of 
American  Baptist  Missions,  "  In  all  the  elements  of  an  established 
Christian  community,  the  Baptists  in  Burma  have  achieved 
marked  success  and  a  satisfactory  growth,  and  stand  with  the 
Sandwich  Islands  and  a  few  other  of  the  island  groups  in  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  as  the  only  representatives  of  fields  in  which  for- 
eign missions  have  shown  a  near  approach  to  the  ultimate  object 
of  all  missionary  work,  the  establishment  of  an  indigenous,  self- 
supporting,  self-managing,  and  self-propagating  Christianity." 


MISSIONS   IN   CHINA 

Rev.  William  Arnot  Mather,  B.D. 
Paotingfu,  North  China 

In  a  country  like  China,  with  its  profound  regard  for  anti- 
quity, the  missionary  is  glad  to  state  the  fact  that  Christianity  has 
been  preached  in  the  Empire  since  the  sixth  or  seventh  centuryj 
and  therefore  cannot  be  called  an  upstart  religion.  As  for  tra- 
ditions, literary  monuments,  or  any  body  of  believers,  those  early 
Nestorians,  and  the  Catholic  mission  of  the  thirteenth  century 
which  succeeded  them,  left  no  trace  save  the  Nestorian  tablet 
of  the  eighth  century. 

Far  otherwise  is  it  with  the  work  begun  under  Ricci,  1582, 
which,  in  spite  of  the  interdiction  of  Christianity  in  1724,  the 
Tai  Ping  rebellion,  and  the  Boxer  outbreak,  has  maintained 
absolute  continuity  until  the  present,  when  the  communicants 
number  nearly  one  million.  Unfortunately,  insistence  on  politi- 
cal power,  compromise  in  important  matters,  lavish  use  of 
money,  and  inadequate  instruction  of  converts,  have  fixed  a 
great  and  ever-widening  gulf  between  Roman  Catholic  and 
Protestant  missions. 

The  first  quarter-century  of  Protestant  missions  in  China  was 
exceedingly  disheartening;  and  the  status  in  1834,  when  Mor- 
rison died,  was  not  greatly  different  from  that  in  1807,  when  the 
great  pioneer  missionary  first  landed  in  Canton.  Foreigners 
were  still  confined  to  a  small  strip  of  land  along  the  river-front 
of  that  city,  and  preaching  to  the  Chinese  was  quite  impossible. 
China  under  Ch'ien  Lung  during  the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth 
century  had  reached  the  zenith  of  her  power  and  military  suc- 
cess —  a  condition  which  helped  to  intensify  her  natural  sense 
of  superiority,  and  to  check  all  advances  made  by  foreign  "  bar- 
barians." 

The  force  of  workers  in  China  just  after  Morrison's  death 
numbered  only  two  —  Bridgman  and  S.  Wells  Williams  of  the 
American  Board,  both  in  Canton.  Milne  had  come  out  to  aid 
20  561 


562  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

Morrison,  accomplished  his  work,  and  passed  away.  Others 
were  working  for  the  Chinese  in  ports  near  China,  but  outside 
of  its  jurisdiction,  such  as  Macao,  Malacca,  Singapore,  Rhio, 
Batavia,  and  Georgetown,  though  with  little  apparent  benefit  to 
the  work  in  China.  Among  these  laborers  are  the  well-known 
names  of  Medhurst,  Giitzlaff,  and  Peter  Parker.  The  founda- 
tion work  accomplished  by  these  men  cannot  be  overestimated. 
The  Bible  had  been  translated  by  Morrison  and  Milne  as  early 
as  1818,  and  by  Marshman  of  Serampore  at  about  the  same  time. 
Tracts  had  been  written,  one  by  Milne  retaining  its  popularity 
to-day;  and  Giitzlaff  had  not  only  begun  his  remarkable  liter- 
ary activity,  but  had  made  several  trips  up  the  coast  of  China, 
even  reaching  Tientsin  and  Manchuria,  distributing  Gospels  and 
tracts  wherever  he  went.  The  year  1834  is  also  marked  by  the 
founding  of  the  Society  for  the  Diffusion  of  Useful  Knowledge, 
the  precursor  of  the  present  Christian  Literature  Society. 
An  educational  beginning  had  been  made,  in  the  founding  at 
Malacca  of  an  Anglo-Chinese  College,  ten  of  whose  graduates 
were  able  later  to  do  good  service  in  official  positions  in  China. 
Some  dispensing  of  medicine  had  been  done  by  Morrison,  aided 
by  Dr.  Livingstone,  at  Macao  as  early  as  1820,  but  medical 
missionary  work  in  China  may  be  said  really  to  have  been  begun 
by  Dr.  Peter  Parker,  of  the  American  Board,  who  in  1834 
established  a  dispensary  in  Singapore,  the  next  year  removing 
it  to  Canton.  Work  for  women  had  been  undertaken  by  Miss 
Newell,  afterward  Mrs.  Giitzlaff,  who  had  five  schools  for  girls 
at  Malacca;  but  the  first  organized  women's  work  was  that 
undertaken  by  the  Society  for  Promoting  Female  Education  in 
China,  India,  and  the  East,  founded  in  1834  by  ladies  in  London. 
Thus  the  year  of  the  founding  of  Hartford  Theological  Seminary 
will  be  seen  to  be  a  significant  one  in  the  history  of  Protestant 
missions  in  China. 

The  visible  results  in  China  itself  of  all  this  pioneer  work  were 
indeed  small.  The  first  evangelist,  Liang  A-fah,  also  a  zealous 
writer  and  distributer  of  tracts,  had  been  compelled  to  flee  in 
1834  because  suspected  of  assisting  Lord  Napier  in  publishing 
an  appeal  to  the  Chinese,  and  there  were  left  only  three  Christian 
Chinese,  who  organized  the  first  Christian  Church  of  China  the 
following  year. 

Momentous  indeed  have  been  the  changes  of  the   following 


MISSIONS   IN   CHINA  563 

seventy-five  years.  Curiously  enough,  the  greatest  outside  factor 
in  the  advancement  of  the  Gospel  of  peace  in  this  peace-loving 
land  has  been  war.  The  morally  indefensible  "Opium  War" 
opened  five  ports,  and  the  "Arrow  War,"  the  interior.  The 
China- Japan  War,  the  Boxer  Uprising,  and  the  Russia- Japan 
War  have  opened  her  mind  and  heart.  As  a  result,  the  whole 
Chinese  Empire,  with  its  more  than  four  million  square  miles  of 
territory  and  its  four  hundred  million  souls,  is  open  as  never 
before.  Tibet  is  inaccessible  only  so  far  as  Chinese  control 
there  is  incomplete.  The  Chinese  Government,  by  treaty  in  i860, 
and  again  by  edict  in  1907,  has  pledged  itself  to  protect  mission- 
aries and  to  prevent  religious  persecution  of  Chinese  Chris- 
tians. Chinese,  Manchus,  Muhammadans,  Mongols,  Tibetans, 
Aborigines,  have  all  been  reached  in  some  measure.  But, 
while  China  is  everywhere  theoretically  open  to  missionary  work, 
as  a  matter  of  fact  at  present,  the  scholar  class,  the  gentry,  and 
the  official  class,  are  by  their  own  choice  largely  inaccessible 
through  the  ordinary  methods.  The  Church  at  home,  while  not 
keeping  pace  with  this  wonderful  expansion  of  opportunity,  has 
entered  open  doors  as  fast  and  as  far  as  the  supply  of  men  and 
of  means  warranted.  Instead  of  the  two  Protestant  workers  in 
China  at  the  time  of  Morrison's  death,  there  are  now  nearly 
four  thousand  scattered  throughout  the  Eighteen  Provinces  and 
their  dependencies. 

The  methods  of  mission  work,  almost  all  of  which  can  be 
found  in  germ  in  1834,  have  been  vastly  developed  and  diversified 
since  then.  The  literary  work  of  the  pioneers  has  been  carried 
on  by  their  successors,  until  there  are  over  eleven  hundred  differ- 
ent books  and  tracts,  and  twenty-seven  different  versions  of  the 
Bible  or  portions  of  it.  The  evangelistic  work  for  both  men  and 
women  receives  the  greatest  emphasis  —  itinerancy,  colpor- 
tage,  chapel-preaching,  and  catechumen-classes  being  the  chief 
agencies.  Medical  work  is  as  important  as  ever  in  dispelling 
prejudice,  and  the  more  than  three  hundred  physicians  in  China 
give  annually  more  than  a  million  treatments.  Other  philan- 
thropic work  includes  opium  refuges  and  famine  relief,  and  an 
occasional  home  for  lepers  and  for  the  insane.  A  few  schools 
for  the  blind  and  for  the  deaf  might  also  be  classed  as  educational 
work.  Education  is  receiving  increased  attention  in  view  of 
China's  demand  for  the  new  learning;   courses  are  open  from 


S64  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

the  kindergarten  to  the  college,  and  medical  schools  for  both 
boys  and  girls;  industrial  education  has  been  begun  in  many- 
places;  and  plans  are  being  formulated  for  normal  schools. 
A  graduate  of  Hartford,  formerly  of  the  American  Board,  has 
organized  a  society  to  supplement  the  work  of  the  present  theo- 
logical seminaries  by  summer-conferences  and  correspondence- 
courses,  designed  for  less  fully  educated  Chinese  workers.  Dr. 
Gilbert  Reid's  "International  Institute"  at  Shanghai,  and  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  now  working  for  students 
in  seven  cities  of  China  and  also  for  the  thousands  of  Chinese 
students  in  Japanese  universities,  have  also  used  education  as  a 
means  of  reaching  the  scholar  and  official  classes.  In  all  this 
diversity  of  work,  by  representatives  of  eighty  or  more  societies, 
there  is  more  and  more  discernible  a  spirit  of  cooperation  and 
harmony,  which  tends  to  eliminate  rivalry,  overlapping,  and 
reduplication  of  effort,  and  which  augurs  well  for  a  coming 
United  Church  of  Christ  in  China.  Such  a  spirit  and  purpose 
were  plainly  seen  in  the  Centenary  Conference  of  1907,  and  the 
many  union  schools  and  colleges,  not  to  speak  of  comity  in  evan- 
gelistic work,  are  concrete  examples  of  it. 

As  a  result  of  this  manifold  work  during  the  last  seventy-five 
years,  the  Protestant  church  has  grown  from  only  three  persons 
to  almost  two  hundred  thousand,  the  adherents  numbering  nearly 
as  many  more.  The  majority  of  Christians  are  farmers  and 
artisans,  the  men  of  wealth  and  culture  being  much  fewer  com- 
paratively than  in  Japan,  and  officials  finding  it  impossible  at 
present  to  enter  the  church  and  still  hold  their  positions.  There  are 
about  four  hundred  societies  of  Christian  Endeavor ;  and  Young 
Men's  Christian  Associations,  aside  from  the  seven  already 
mentioned,  are  to  be  found  in  many  Christian  schools  and  col- 
leges. The  influence  of  the  Association  is  growing  among  the 
students  of  the  new  learning ;  and  even  in  Tokyo,  where  tempta- 
tions to  atheism  and  immorality  are  peculiarly  strong,  more  than 
a  hundred  Chinese  students  have  through  this  agency  signified 
their  desire  to  lead  a  Christian  life.  Many  churches  have  already 
attained  to  complete  self-support,  while  almost  all  the  rest  con- 
tribute a  larger  or  smaller  proportion  of  their  expenses.  In 
Shanghai  and  Tientsin  self-supporting  churches,  entirely  in- 
dependent of  foreign  control,  have  been  organized;  but  as  yet 
the    movement    has    not    spread    rapidly.      Home-missionary 


MISSIONS   IN   CHINA  565 

societies  have  been  founded,  and  many  Christians  follow  the 
example  of  the  Koreans  in  contributing  some  days  or  weeks 
of  their  time  for  unpaid  evangelistic  effort.  In  spirituality,  the 
Chinese  Christians  often  leave  something  to  be  desired,  their  old 
practical  materialism  being  hard  to  outgrow  at  once;  yet  the 
Boxer  troubles  proved  that  multitudes  were  willing  to  suffer  the 
loss  of  all  things  for  their  faith,  and  the  devotion  of  many  who 
survive  is  no  less  great.  The  recent  wonderful  work  of  grace  in 
Manchuria,  and  also  among  the  Aborigines  of  Southwest  China, 
reveals  the  possibilities  open  to  the  Church  throughout  the 
Empire. 

Yet  these  are  but  the  outskirts  of  God's  ways  in  China.  The 
indirect  influence  of  missions  and  of  Christian  civilization  upon 
China  at  large  is  incalculable  and  ever  increasing.  Frequent 
and  radical  reforms  promulgated  by  the  Throne  startle  and  be- 
wilder the  oldest  residents.  Journalism  has  had  a  mushroom 
growth,  and  the  freedom  of  the  press  is  astonishing.  The 
Government  has  imitated  the  mission  street-chapels,  using 
lectures,  the  stereopticon,  books,  and  other  means  to  exhort  to 
virtue  and  to  spread  enlightenment.  The  old  examinations,  of 
nearly  two  thousand  years'  standing,  are  quite  done  away,  and 
almost  every  possible  variety  of  school,  college,  and  university 
has  taken  their  place.  The  uplifting  of  woman  has  begun. 
Schools  for  girls  are  being  opened  in  every  large  center.  The 
anti-footbinding  crusade,  begun  by  missionaries,  is  now  enthusias- 
tically carried  on  by  the  Chinese.  Penal  reform  is  being  taken 
up,  torture  abolished,  and  loathsome  prisons  are  giving  place  to 
new  ones  on  Western  models,  where  trades  are  taught  to  the 
prisoners.  Of  all  non-Christian  peoples,  the  Chinese  have 
probably  been  foremost  in  their  charities;  but  these  are  now 
taking  new  forms. 

That  there  are  elements  of  peril  in  the  new  conditions  no 
one  can  deny.  The  new-bom  patriotism  expresses  itself  most 
easily  along  anti-foreign  or  anti-dynastic  lines.  A  shallow 
atheism  is  exceedingly  popular  among  the  student  class,  and  is 
fostered  by  their  many  Japanese  teachers.  Yet  these  difliculties, 
and  the  present  unparalleled  opportunities  for  work  in  China, 
constitute  the  greatest  challenge  ever  offered  to  the  Church  of 
Chiist  to  give  her  best  and  to  give  it  quickly.  A  few  years  hence 
may  be  too  late. 


PROGRESS   OF   CHRISTIANITY   IN   JAPAN 

Rev.  George  Miller  Rowland,  D.D. 

Sapporo,  Japan 

Our  topic  is  broader  than  the  progress  of  Christian  missions 
technically  so  called.  It  includes  rather  all  God's  workings  for 
the  salvation  of  this  Empire. 

In  order  to  a  clear  apprehension  of  the  progress  of  Christianity 
in  Japan  during  the  life-time  of  Hartford  Seminary,  let  us  glance 
first  at  some  conditions  in  1834  —  conditions  within  Japan  and 
in  world-attitude  toward  her;  then  let  us  note  some  of  the 
steps  of  progress;    and,  lastly,  let  us  contrast  1834  with  1909. 

I.  Conditions  Seventy-Jive  Years  Ago.  —  Within  Japan  there 
were  then  some  conditions  most  unfavorable  to  the  reception 
of  Christianity,  and  at  the  same  time  others  that  constituted  a 
preparation. 

Made  fearful  and  distrustful  by  the  apparent  political  char- 
acter of  sixteenth-century  Christianity,  Japan  had  sought  to 
crush  out  the  "evil  sect"  and  to  close  her  doors  to  all  who 
owned  the  Name.  Nor  was  this  exclusiveness  without  reason. 
Japan  had  received  tobacco,  firearms,  and  some  new  forms  of 
disease  from  the  West,  but  no  new  principles  of  morals  had  been 
adopted  from  foreigners  in  the  sixteenth  century  (Mikadoes 
Empire,  p.  263).  Though  apparently  necessary,  such  exclu- 
siveness was  deadening. 

Despite  this  narrow  exclusiveness  and  spiritual  darkness, 
by  way  of  preparation  for  Christianity,  the  people  through 
Buddhism  were  accustomed  to  religious  worship  and  ideals. 
Through  Confucianism  they  were  bound  to  a  code  of  morals. 
Their  loyalty  and  filial  piety  are  motives  to  which  strong  appeal 
can  still  be  made. 

Besides  this  religious  and  moral  culture  received  from  Bud- 
dhism and  Confucianism,  there  still  remained  the  spark  of 
Christian  faith  in  the  hearts  of  thousands  in  Southern  Japan, 
kept  alive  secretly  for  two  hundred  years.     Who  shall  say  that 

566 


PROGRESS    OF   CHRISTIANITY   IN   JAPAN      567 

these  thousands  were  not  hoping  and  praying  for  the  day  of 
reh'gious  liberty  that  has  dawned  in  the  Meiji  Era  ? 

Again,  remembering  Xavier's  wonderful  successes  in  the  six- 
teenth century,  there  were  earnest  souls  in  both  Catholic  and 
Protestant  countries  —  Italy,  France,  Great  Britain,  and 
America  —  who  dreamed  of  planting  the  Gospel  again  within 
Japan's  fast-closed  doors.  Already,  before  our  Seminary  was 
opened,  there  were  concerted  prayer  and  giving  on  behalf  of 
Japan  in  America.  Dr.  Carey  tells  {Japan  and  its  Regeneration, 
p.  76)  of  a  little  prayer-meeting  in  Brookline,  Mass.,  in  1827, 
which  was  moved  to  pray  and  to  give  money  for  taking  the 
Gospel  to  Japan.  When  our  Alma  Mater  was  still  in  her  in- 
fancy. Catholic  priests  came  to  Lu  Chu;  and  the  Protestant 
Dr.  Battelheim  was  also  sent  thither  (1846)  by  a  missionary 
society  organized  for  the  purpose  by  officers  of  the  British 
navy. 

Such  are  some  of  the  conditions  that  prevailed  seventy-five 
years  ago.  Within,  Japanese  rulers  fearing,  hating,  pro- 
hibiting Christianity;  the  hearts  of  the  people  prepared  through 
Buddhism  and  Confucianism;  a  handful  of  people  secretly 
clinging  to  the  Faith  and  awaiting  a  better  day.  Without, 
Catholic  and  Protestant  nations  knocking  for  admission;  and 
a  few  earnest  souls  unwittingly  joining  their  prayers  with  those 
of  the  secret  Japanese  Christians  for  the  salvation  of  this 
Empire. 

2.  Some  Steps  in  the  Progress.  —  In  the  providence  of  God 
many  important  results  were  brought  about  through  other  than 
technical  missionary  agencies.    Let  us  first  note  some  of  these : — 

(a)  Influence  of  Foreign  Employees.  — When  Japan  was  setting 
out  on  her  new  career,  she  freely  employed  foreign  advisers,  ex- 
perts, and  teachers.  Five  thousand  of  these  yatoi,  or  "  employed 
servants,"  many  of  them  men  of  character  and  Christian  faith, 
were  able  to  direct  public  affairs,  educational,  commercial, 
industrial,  and  governmental,  in  ways  not  easily  pointed  out,  but 
none  the  less  effective  in  bringing  Japan  into  harmony  in  large 
ways  with  Christian  ideals.  The  real  work  of  many  such  men 
will  probably  never  be  known. 

Among  the  employed  teachers  of  English  two  are  worthy  of 
special  mention,  Captain  Janes  in  Kumamoto  and  Dr.  W.  S. 
Clark  in  Sapporo.     Kumamoto  men  in  general  are  noted  for 


568  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS" 

strength  of  character.  Janes's  pupils  were  young  men  of 
spirit  and  ambition.  Their  teacher  was  a  strong  character 
and  a  soldier.  He  gave  the  New  Testament  a  high  place  in  his 
teaching.  He  soon  won  the  young  men  to  himself  and  to  Christ. 
They  early  pledged  themselves  mutually  to  give  their  lives  for 
their  country  and  its  advancement  through  Christianity.  Many 
of  these  went  into  the  Christian  ministry  and  built  prosperous 
churches.  Some  of  them  are  now  strong  preachers,  broad 
educators,  and  wise  administrators  in  Japan's  Christian  institu- 
tions. 

The  influence  of  Dr.  Clark  in  Sapporo  is  also  beyond  meas- 
ure. He  labored  less  than  twelve  months,  but  his  influence  is 
perennial.  His  pupils  were  the  flower  of  Japanese  youth.  He 
led  them  to  a  type  of  Christianity  such  as  is  called  for  by  the 
League  of  Service.  His  impress  on  the  lives  of  twenty  young 
men  is  to-day  seen  in  many  times  twenty  lives.  The  institution 
he  founded  has  grown  to  the  rank  of  a  university.  The  men 
he  established  in  Christian  faith  and  character  easily  outrank 
the  institution.  Janes,  Clark,  and  many  others  struck  their 
blows  at  the  right  psychological  moment.  Their  coming  was 
providentially  timed.  Hence  their  work  was  striking.  "The 
foreign  employee  is  the  creator  of  new  Japan,"  quotes  Griffis 
from  Chamberlain  with  approval. 

(b)  Influence  of  Foreign  Representatives.  —  Many  nations  and 
their  representatives  have  forwarded  the  Christian  movement  in 
Japan  by  their  righteous  witnessing:  Perry  on  his  first  Lord's 
Day  in  Uraga,  acknowledging  in  public  service  and  song  the 
God  of  nations;  President  Roosevelt,  arranging  for  a  peace- 
conference  at  Portsmouth,  bore  witness  powerfully  to  Christ- 
ianity. Many  other  public  servants  of  many  different  nations 
between  Perry  and  Roosevelt  have  by  faith,  word,  and  act 
greatly  advanced  the  cause  of  truth  and  righteousness. 

(c)  Influence  of  Christian  Missions.  —  During  exactly  fifty 
of  the  seventy-five  years  under  review,  the  work  of  Christian 
Missions  proper  has  been  most  varied  and  abundant.  The 
limits  of  this  paper  forbid  anything  like  a  complete  survey  of 
these  efforts.  Only  a  few  of  the  most  outstanding  facts  can  be 
mentioned,  and  these  most  briefly. 

From  the  six  missionaries  of  three  societies  who  reached 
Japan  in  1859  the  number  has  increased  till  we  have  more  than 


PROGRESS    OF   CHRISTIANITY   IN   JAPAN     569 

six  hundred,  representing  thirty  societies.  These  have  labored 
effectually  in  direct  evangelization,  in  literary,  medical,  elee- 
mosynary, and  educational  service.  The  Japanese  vernacular 
is  such  a  difficult  instrument  to  use  with  facility  that  the  adult 
European  here  has  always  been  greatly  handicapped.  Never- 
theless, the  results  accomplished,  through  even  a  stammering 
tongue,  are  cause  for  profound  gratitude. 

The  eleemosynary  efforts  of  the  missionaries  have  not  only 
established  many  institutions,  but  they  have  also  taught  the  in- 
finite value  of  every  human  life,  even  the  most  lowly  and  the 
most  unfortunate. 

A  European  physician  first  treated  a  "non-human"  (hinin) 
pariah,  and  in  time  of  war  treated  the  wounded  of  both  camps 
with  equal  devotion.  Such  care  as  is  given  to  lepers  is  pointed 
out  to-day  by  the  best  Christian  sentiment  as  indicating  the  very 
essence  of  Christianity,  and  leper  hospitals  are  still  conducted 
largely  by  the  foreign  missionary.  Perhaps  the  most  noted 
single  relief  institution  in  Japan  is  the  Okayama  Orphan  Asy- 
lum. This  in  its  inception  and  in  its  present  management  is 
entirely  Japanese,  with  missionary  co-labor. 

The  medical  missionary  in  Japan  did  his  work  in  the  earlier 
years  of  the  new  era.  His  skill  found  abundant  scope  in  the 
relief  of  suffering,  in  teaching  sanitation,  and  in  the  prevention 
of  epidemic ;  and  his  efforts  opened  the  way  for  some  most  effec- 
tive preaching  of  the  Gospel.  When  prejudice  and  opposition 
to  Christianity  were  rife,  the  missionary  physician  was  the  first 
to  find  entrance  into  many  a  town  and  city.  The  growth  of 
native  medical  knowledge  and  skill,  however,  has  been  so  great 
in  recent  years  that  the  Western  practitioner  is  now  for  the  most 
part  superseded. 

Obviously  the  linguistic  handicap  is  felt  most  keenly  in  lit- 
erary lines.  Still  the  missionary  has  done,  and  is  doing,  much 
valuable  literary  work.  Despite  the  fact  that  he  must  employ 
a  Japanese  to  put  into  literary  form  and  to  write  down  what 
he  produces,  the  missionary  is  publishing  thousands  of  useful 
pages.  The  native  author  excels  in  all  the  more  popular  forms 
of  Christian  literature.  The  output  of  the  missionary  is  now 
for  the  most  part  on  more  technical  lines. 

In  education  there  was  a  time  when  the  foreigner  was  teacher 
in  almost  every  subject.    The  early  anti-foreign  prejudice  having 


570  RECENT  CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

somewhat  abated,  Japan  became  the  eager  pupil  of  the  West. 
Then  for  a  decade  or  more  the  foreign  missionary  was  indeed 
"teacher"  (sensei). 

Every  missionary  was  besought  for  instruction  on  all  conceiv- 
able topics,  and  the  teaching  missionary  enjoyed  an  unrivaled 
opportunity.  To-day  this  peculiar  vantage-ground  has  been 
lost.  But  the  missionary  teacher  of  language  and  of  a  few 
special  branches  is  still  able  to  render  most  valuable  service. 
Especially  in  the  line  of  building  character,  and  in  leading  young 
people  to  the  Great  Teacher,  he  has  a  rare  opportunity. 

In  direct  evangelization  the  activities  of  the  foreign  preacher 
have  been  different  from  those  in  most  mission  fields.  He  has 
been  preacher,  lecturer,  and  superintendent,  but  seldom  pastor. 
At  the  first,  naturally,  he  was  pretty  much  all  in  all ;  but  with  the 
growth  of  the  Christian  community,  the  burden  and  responsi- 
bility have  increasingly  been  borne  by  the  Japanese.  In  most 
of  the  communions  the  pastoral  office  has  from  a  very  early  day 
been  exercised  by  Japanese  ministers. 

In  the  Roman  Catholic  communion,  where  organization  is 
highly  developed,  and  where  there  are  many  foreign  priests,  the 
burden  and  authority  still  rest  largely  in  foreign  hands.  The 
Orthodox  Greek  Church  is  unique  in  the  fact  that  its  moving 
spirit  has  from  the  first  (i860)  been  a  single  missionary,  that 
wonderful  man  of  God,  Archbishop  Nicolai,  who  is  still  with  us 
in  the  flesh.  Obviously,  Japanese  workers  have  from  the  first 
largely  borne  the  burden  and  responsibility  in  their  communion^ 
which  now  numbers  30,000  souls. 

For  the  last  three  years  the  Kumi-ai  body  has  been  thoroughly 
independent;  and,  barring  a  parting  financial  grant  from  the 
American  Board,  it  has  been  entirely  self-supporting.  At  the 
same  time  it  has  shown  a  spirit  of  aggressive,  well-planned,  and 
successful  evangelism  never  exhibited  before.  The  Church  of 
Christ  in  Japan  (Presbyterian)  has  declared  its  independence, 
formulated  a  scheme  of  cooperation  with  the  various  missions 
of  presbyterial  government,  and  thrown  itself  into  a  new  evan- 
gelism. The  three  principal  Methodist  bodies  in  1907  con- 
summated a  union  into  one  Japan  Methodist  Church,  and  by 
the  election  of  Bishop  Honda  formally  took  over  the  whole  work 
of  superintendence,  so  that  now  the  few  foreign  presiding  elders 
receive  appointment  from  the  Japanese  Bishop.     It  is  worthy  of 


PROGRESS    OF   CHRISTIANITY   IN   JAPAN     571 

note  that  in  the  Methodist  body  also  these  changes  of  relation 
have  been  attended  by  increased  evangelistic  effort  both  locally 
and  by  the  general  body. 

These  forward  steps  in  three  great  communions,  Congre- 
gational, Presbyterian,  and  Methodist,  have  brought  up  the 
number  of  adult  baptisms  annually  to  a  point  never  before 
reached  in  the  Protestant  churches  of  Japan.  These  rapid  steps 
toward  a  complete  naturalization  of  the  foreign  faith  constitute 
perhaps  the  most  striking  and  hopeful  feature  of  the  whole 
Christian  movement.  It  may  confidently  be  asserted  that 
Christianity  is  now,  after  exactly  half  a  century,  planted  and 
rooted  in  Japan.  It  may  as  confidently  be  hoped  that  for  the 
next  half-century  the  teachings  of  the  Nazarene  will  be  the  most 
potent  factor  making  for  righteousness  in  this  island  Empire. 

3.  Then  and  Now.  —  In  1834  Japan  was  a  group  of  baronies 
held  together  only  loosely ;  now  she  is  a  nation  thoroughly  uni- 
fied through  devotion  to  her  beloved  Emperor.  Then  she  was 
in  isolation,  now  she  is  in  full  relations  as  peer  in  the  sister- 
hood of  nations.  Then  there  was  a  military  establishment  that 
made  the  Mikado  little  more  than  a  figurehead ;  now  we  have  a 
national  army  and  navy,  the  Emperor  himself  being  its  general- 
issimo. Then  there  were  strong  class-distinctions,  second  only 
to  real  caste;  now  there  is  a  well-nigh  democratic  equality, 
with  possibilities  of  advancement  open  to  the  lowliest.  Then 
human  life — one's  own,  vassal's,  enemy's,  inferior's,  children's 
— was  little  valued,  appeal  to  the  sword  being  the  fully  recog- 
nized right  of  the  military  gentry;  now  such  cutting  down  is 
unheard  of,  the  inviolability  of  life  being  everywhere  increasingly 
respected.  Then  there  were  edicts  prohibiting  Christianity 
under  penalty  of  death;  now  it  is  guaranteed  religious  liberty. 
Then  there  were  a  few  secret  followers  under  ban ;  now  there 
are  many  open  believers  in  Cabinet,  in  Parliament,  on  the  bench, 
and  everywhere.  Then  Christianity  was  an  "evil  sect";  now 
the  Truth  is  planted,  rooted,  and  bearing  much  fruit  in  every 
way. 


MISSIONS   IN   SOUTH   AFRICA 

Rev.  George  Albert  Wilder,  D.D. 
Chikore,  Rhodesia 

George  Schmidt,  under  the  Moravians,  at  B avian's  Kloof, 
Cape  Colony,  in  the  year  1736,  wa,s,  the  first  Protestant  mis- 
sionary to  begin  work  in  South  Africa;  and  his  effort  was  soon 
abandoned  for  a  period  of  fifty  years.  In  the  year  1834  eight 
societies  were  in  the  field:  the  Moravians  (1792),  The  London 
Missionary  Society  (1801),  The  Wesleyan  Mission  (1816),  The 
United  Free  Church  of  Scotland  Mission  (182 1),  The  Paris 
Evangelical  Missionary  Society  (1833),  The  Rhenish  Mission 
(1833),  The  Berlin  Missionary  Society  (1834),  and  the  Ameri- 
can Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  (1834). 
Dr.  Andrew  Murray  would  place  the  beginning  of  the  Dutch 
Reformed  Church  of  South  Africa  in  the  year  1824.  It  is  true 
that  the  Dutch  brought  the  Bible  with  them  to  South  Africa 
as  early  as  1662;  and,  five  years  before  Schmidt  arrived,  the 
Dutch  Government  had  built  a  church  for  its  slaves,  and  eleven 
hundred  and  twenty-one  slave  children  had  been  baptized; 
yet  it  was  not  until  1856  that  this  church  undertook  a  mission 
to  the  heathen,  and  its  agents  then  were  not  Boers  but  Scotchmen, 
Messrs.  McKidd  and  Gonin.  A  church  can  hardly  be  classed  as 
missionary  simply  because  it  showed  solicitude  for  the  spiritual 
welfare  of  its  slaves. 

The  year  1834  saw  sixty-two  European  agents  in  South  Africa, 
while  to-day  there  are  over  fifteen  hundred  workers,  sent  out  by 
thirty-three  societies  great  and  small.  Seventy-five  years  ago 
the  missionaries  had  no  native  ministry  to  aid  them,  and  only 
a  limited  number  of  other  helpers;  now  there  are  two  hundred 
and  two  ordained  Bantus  in  South  Africa,  and  ten  thousand 
others  assisting  in  the  work. 

The  few  who  met  to  celebrate  the  Lord's  Supper  when  our 
American  Board's  missionaries  arrived  in  South  Africa  are 
reported  to-day  to  have  increased  to  over  200,000   (the  lately 

572 


MISSIONS   IN   SOUTH  AFRICA  573 

published  figures,  149,491,  are  incomplete;  and  Professor 
Warneck  (p.  206)  probably  refers  to  communicants  and  cate- 
chumens in  the  575,000  there  given).  These  then  are  the 
professing  Christians  in  a  population  of  something  less  than  ten 
millions;  the  exact  figures  are  not  known,  but  this  number  in- 
cludes the  half-million  half-breeds  who  originated  in  the  days  of 
slavery  and  who  are  increasing  at  a  rapid  rate  owing  to  the  white 
man's  lust. 

In  the  early  days,  all  forms  of  temporary  structures  answered 
for  places  of  worship.  Most  of  the  seven  hundred  at  present  in 
use  are  permanent  buildings,  many  of  them  large,  and  a  few  fine 
church  edifices.  Thirty-seven  churches  have  over  one  thou- 
sand communicants  each;  and  one  reports  four  thousand, 
which  would  place  it  among  the  largest  in  the  world. 

The  native  ministers  are  almost  everywhere  paid  by  the  native 
congregations.  The  different  denominations  with  zeal  support 
the  home-missionary  organizations  in  their  midst,  which  send 
agents  from  their  own  numbers  to  their  heathen  friends,  "the 
lost  children  of  the  tribes  of  Israel,"  as  they  like  to  call  them. 
A  very  large  number  of  volunteer  workers  support  themselves, 
many  of  whom  might  be  called  week-end  evangelists.  Probably 
it  is  safe  to  claim  that  in  no  other  country  has  self-support  made 
greater  progress,  and  in  no  other  are  there  so  many  unpaid 
workers.  Real  missionary  spirit  cannot  be  claimed  for  the  native 
churches.  There  are  individuals,  however,  who  must  be  placed 
very  high  among  those  who  have  given  their  lives  to  carry  the 
Gospel  to  the  tribes  which  are  beyond. 

In  spite  of  the  lack  of  missionary  zeal,  the  efforts  of  the  natives, 
combined  with  the  activities  of  the  missionaries  and  the  Bible 
publishing  societies,  have  made  the  name  of  the  true  God  very 
generally  known  throughout  the  land.  Especially  from  the 
mining  centers,  where  the  missionaries  early  located  and  native 
Christians  gathered,  has  God's  name  gone  forth.  However, 
so  far  as  returns  show,  the  knowledge  of  the  Christian  religion 
gained  in  the  mines  does  not  make  self-propagating  Christianity; 
the  natives  do  not  remain  long  enough  under  its  influence  to 
gain  power  to  overcome  heathen  environment.  There  are,  how- 
ever, notable  exceptions. 

The  learning  of  the  sixteen  different  languages  and  dialects, 
reducing  them  to  writing,  and  translating  the  Scriptures,  have 


574  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

practically  been  completed  during  the  past  seventy-five  years. 
There  are  only  four  translations  of  the  entire  Bible;  namely, 
the  Xoza,  by  the  Wesleyans,  and  later  by  a  more  general  com- 
mittee; the  Zulu,  by  the  American  Board  missionaries,  in  which 
the  graduates  of  Hartford  Seminary  took  an  honorable  part; 
the  Chuana,  by  the  London  Missionary  Society's  representa- 
tives; and  the  Sutu,  by  the  French  missionaries.  The  British 
and  Foreign  Bible  Society  alone  reports  a  distribution  of  the 
whole  or  parts  of  the  Scriptures  in  South  Africa  in  the  native 
languages  to  the  number  of  four  hundred  thousand. 

Although  the  colonial  churches  have  in  general  shown  apathy 
towards  the  heathen,  yet,  from  the  first,  individuals  have  per- 
sistently urged  their  claim  upon  their  brethren;  and  it  may  be 
said  to  their  honor  that  to-day  the  European  Christians  of  South 
Africa  largely  maintain  seven  South  African  Societies  which  are 
doing  a  notable  work  among  the  aborigines.  These  are  the 
Dutch  Reformed  Church  Mission  of  South  Africa,  the  South 
African  Wesleyan  Missionary  Society,  the  Congregational 
Union  of  South  Africa,  the  South  African  Presbyterian  Church, 
the  South  African  General  Mission,  the  South  African  Com- 
pounds and  Interior  Mission,  and  the  South  African  Branch 
of  the  Sudan  Mission.  Further,  it  must  be  stated  that  ninety 
of  the  present  number  of  missionaries  working  in  Africa  are 
South  African  student-volunteers,  whose  whole  list  amounts  to 
two  hundred  and  three. 

Education  among  this  illiterate  people  has  shown  great  prog- 
ress in  certain  sections.  From  the  first,  without  compulsory 
laws  to  assist,  the  missionaries  have  taught  those  whom  they 
could  as  faithfully  as  they  preached,  beginning  by  instructing 
their  own  hired  servants  at  night.  General  returns  are  not  avail- 
able for  the  whole  period,  but  from  1850  the  following  figures 
will  tell  the  progress  made  in  school-attendance  for  all  South 
African  natives.  In  that  year  there  were  only  nine  thousand 
scholars  in  school;  in  1865,  eleven  thousand;  in  1878,  forty- 
seven  thousand;  in  1885,  sixty-three  thousand;  in  1894,  eighty 
thousand;  in  1908,  one  hundred  and  seventy  thousand.  In 
the  District  of  Transkei,  Cape  Colony,  the  most  progressive 
portion  of  native  South  Africa,  the  percentage  of  population 
attending  school  is  fourteen,  while  in  Scotland  it  is  only  two  per 
cent,  higher. 


MISSIONS    IN   SOUTH   AFRICA  575 

In  enlightening  such  a  folk  it  was  patent  enough  that  they 
must  be  taught  to  read,  but  it  was  not  every  missionary  who  saw 
the  need  of  industrial  training.  Many  were  satisfied  with  teach- 
ing them  how  to  die,  forgetting  the  equally  important  duty  of 
showing  them  how  to  live.  It  is  to  the  honor  of  Hartford  Semi- 
nary that  one  of  her  graduates  was  an  early  and  persistent  ad- 
vocate of  industrial  training  for  the  native  converts.  One  of 
the  first  Wesleyan  missionaries  wrote:  "To  preach  the  Gospel 
to  the  heathen  is  not  sufficient ;  their  social  condition  has  to  re- 
ceive the  careful  attention  of  the  Christian  teacher." 

The  General  Conference  of  South  African  Missionaries  in 
1905  unanimously  voted  to  approve  of  industrial  education,  so 
far  as  it  conserves  the  character  of  the  convert.  To  the  Free 
Church  of  Scotland's  missionaries,  as  much  as  to  any,  belongs 
the  honor  of  having  developed  the  idea  of  training  the  heart, 
the  head,  and  the  hand.  Their  institutions  at  Lovedale  and  at 
Blytheswood  prove  this. 

All  the  South  African  States  now  assist,  in  a  greater  or  less 
degree,  in  the  education  of  the  native.  The  schools,  originally 
supported  with  funds  from  abroad,  have  become  very  generally 
State-aided  schools.  To  none  are  grants  made  in  which  in- 
dustrial training  is  not  taught  in  some  form.  Probably  in  no 
other  country  is  manual  labor  so  generally  required  of  those 
attending  institutions  of  learning,  for,  even  in  the  Bible-schools,  two 
hours  a  day  are  required  to  be  given  to  industrial  occupation. 

The  standards  reached  in  the  best  schools  are  equal  to  those 
required  for  entering  American  high  schools.  Individuals  have 
passed  beyond  this ;  and,  after  completing  university  and  profes- 
sional courses  abroad,  have  returned  to  South  Africa  and  become 
leaders  of  native  opinion.  One  such  has  succeeded  in  establish- 
ing an  educational  institution  on  a  par  with  many  similar  mis- 
sionary schools,  besides  owning,  editing,  publishing,  and  printing 
a  weekly  newspaper  in  the  native  and  in  the  English  languages. 
There  are  six  such  papers  in  South  Africa.  They  show  the 
progress  of  the  educational  work  among  the  natives. 

To  indicate  how  these  people  have  advanced  in  their  appreci- 
ation of  the  value  of  education,  it  may  be  stated  that,  for  some- 
time after  Lovedale  was  started  in  1841,  not  a  cent  was  paid 
by  the  pupils  for  their  education;  whereas  now  annually  there  is 
paid  into  that  institution,  for  tuition,  board,  etc.,  twenty-five 


576  RECENT  CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

thousand  dollars.  Towards  the  establishing  of  an  interstate 
college  for  the  native,  one  district  alone  gave  in  a  lump  sum 
fifty  thousand  dollars,  and  the  South  African  natives  together 
hope  to  raise  this  amount  to  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
dollars. 

All  the  South  African  States  have  made  it  possible  for  certain 
natives  to  hold  land  under  limited  title-deed;  and  the  franchise 
is  given  to  them  in  Cape  Colony  and  in  Rhodesia,  if  they  pos- 
sess qualifications  not  difficult  to  meet.  Although  there  is  a 
strong  sentiment  against  this  plan  in  many  places,  nevertheless 
the  present  Premier  of  Cape  Colony  has  lately  declared  that  to 
deprive  the  native  of  the  franchise  is  "unthinkable."  The 
late  Cecil  Rhodes  declared  also  that  there  must  be  equal  rights 
for  all  civilized  men  south  of  the  Zambezi.  Indeed,  the  South 
African  aborigines  have  seldom  lacked  friends  among  the  high 
officials  representing  England,  from  Sir  Charles  Somerset  and 
Sir  George  Grey  down  to  the  present  time.  In  last  June,  Sir 
Godfrey  Lagden  made  the  following  strong  statement:  "Within 
the  space  of  a  comparatively  few  years,  the  natives  of  South 
Africa  have  advanced  from  a  state  of  utter  barbarism  to  one  in 
which  they  are  clothed,  fairly  industrious,  peaceful,  and  progres- 
sively inclined ;  in  which  education  and  Christianity  have  been 
felt  by  them,  their  condition  in  life  vastly  improved,  and  the  path 
of  evolution  made  accessible.  It  was  a  great  accomplishment, 
for  which  we  look  in  vain  through  the  pages  of  history  to  find  a 
parallel  in  point  of  time  expended  upon  it,  seeing  that  but  a  few 
years  ago  some  of  the  tribes  were  at  their  worst.  That  the  na- 
tives themselves  were  in  some  degree  willing  agents  for  conversion 
cannot  be  doubted.  But  to  the  governments,  to  the  magistrates, 
and  to  the  European  races,  notwithstanding  deep  prejudice, 
must  be  awarded  the  credit,  where  credit  is  due,  for  a  remarkable 
achievement;  though,  as  before  stated,  a  large  share  of  the 
inspiration  emanated  from  the  fine  missionary  effort  which 
enveloped  the  Sub-Continent  in  a  network  of  Christian  labor." 

This  is  all  true.  The  year  1834  saw  England  free  all  slaves  in 
her  dominions,  and  South  Africa  speedily  became  attractive  to 
many  men  and  women  who  valiantly  assailed  heathenism.  In 
the  United  States,  South  Africa  never  obtained  a  similar  recog- 
nition. The  little  Zulu  Mission,  with  her  five  thousand  converts 
among  the  two  hundred  thousand,  proves  this ;  and  until  recently 


MISSIONS    IN   SOUTH   AFRICA 


577 


no  other  American  missionary  society  took  any  interest  in  South 
Africa.  South  Africa,  during  the  Hfe-time  under  consideration, 
has  had  many  great  missionaries;  one  Society  alone  producing  a 
Moffat,  a  Livingstone,  and  a  Mackenzie,  modern  apostles,  the 
like  of  whom  it  would  be  hard  to  find  in  any  field.  The  last 
was  the  distinguished  father  of  the  honored  President  of  Hart- 
ford Seminary. 

It  is  necessary  to  ask  how  much  strengthening  of  the  spiritual 
life  the  natives  of  South  Africa  have  gained  amid  these  marked 
changes  in  their  material  environment  and  intellectual  attain- 
ment. In  addition  to  what  has  already  been  indicated,  it  can 
be  said  that  progress  has  not  always  been  upward,  and  in  general 
has  been  only  slight.  A  great  mass  of  the  younger  people,  who 
have  not  substituted  the  authority  of  Christ  and  his  messengers 
for  that  of  their  chiefs  and  their  parents,  who  are  classed  among 
"missionary  adherents,"  are  more  or  less  a  law  unto  themselves. 
Among  this  class  immorality  is  practised  more  openly  than 
among  the  naked  barbarians.  To  these  the  common  colonial 
opinion  that  "a  Christian  Kafir  is  worse  than  a  raw  native" 
might  apply;  but  so  to  speak  of  the  converted  native  would  be 
a  gross  insult.  However,  the  statement  sometimes  made  by 
missionaries,  that  the  native  convert  compares  favorably  with 
the  ordinary  New  England  church-member,  if  true,  would 
give  reason  to  be  sorry  for  the  New  England  church-member. 
The  fact  seems  to  be,  that  the  past  seventy-five  years  has  not 
greatly  increased  the  sense  of  obligation  to  moral  law  even  among 
the  Christian  natives.  Disrespect  for  authority,  unwillingness 
to  assume  personal  responsibility,  a  lack  of  confidence  in  others, 
a  low  idea  of  honesty,  a  persistent  practice  of  repose,  a  lurking 
belief  in  the  advantages  of  polygamy  and  domestic  slavery,  and 
a  desire  for  beer-drinking  are  still  characteristics  of  many  of  the 
converts.  Yet,  in  spite  of  all  this,  and  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
the  South  African  church-members  have  suffered  little  or  no 
persecution,  the  progress  of  Christian  missions  in  South  Africa, 
when  measured  in  its  length,  breadth,  height,  and  depth,  places 
it  in  the  front  rank  of  missionary  conquests  during  the  past 
seventy-five  years. 


MISSIONS  IN  THE   HAWAIIAN  ISLANDS 

Rev.  Rowland  Backus  Dodge,  B.D. 
Wailuku,  Maui,  T.H. 

Fifteen  years  before  the  founding  of  Hartford  Theological 
Seminary  there  was  organized  in  Boston  the  mission  to  the 
Hawaiian  Islands.  These  early  days  of  heroic  struggle  and 
wonderful  success  are  well-known  facts  of  history.  The  mission- 
aries began  at  the  right  foundation,  working  with  the  children 
and  youth,  as  well  as  teaching  the  adult  population.  By  the  year 
1832  there  were  established  nine  hundred  schools  under  trained 
natives,  with  an  enrollment  of  nearly  fifty  thousand  pupils.  The 
list  of  church-members  grew  more  slowly,  and  less  than  six 
hundred  names  are  found  in  the  records  of  about  that  date.  The 
greatest  care  was  exercised  that  only  those  should  be  admitted  who 
after  long  probation  had  proved  themselves  worthy. 

The  year  1833  witnessed  a  tremendous  reaction.  Moral 
anarchy  prevailed,  schools  were  deserted,  excess  of  every  kind 
abounded,  and  in  some  places  idol- worship  was  again  established. 
The  influence  of  the  missionary  seemed  entirely  at  an  end.  In 
the  next  year,  however,  the  change  for  the  better  was  conspicu- 
ous, and  marked  the  beginning  of  the  last  seventy-five  years  of 
steady  progress.  It  may  truly  be  said,  that  now  for  the  first  time 
the  nation  was  Christianized,  for  their  faith  was  fixed  in  Jehovah, 
and  the  principles  of  the  Gospel  were  their  professed  guide. 
Two  years  later  the  chiefs  looked  to  the  missionaries  for  advice 
in  the  affairs  of  State.  From  that  time  to  this  it  is  practically 
impossible  to  separate  the  religious  work  of  the  mission  in 
Hawaii  from  the  purely  political  and  educational  achievements 
of  the  Christian  leaders.  In  no  other  country  in  the  world  has 
the  influence  of  those  who  first  brought  the  Gospel  been  so  great 
and  so  permanent  in  politics,  social  life,  and  industry. 

In  1840  a  brief  constitution  or  bill  of  rights  was  issued,  and 
ever  since  that  time  chief  and  commoner  have  joined  in  the  pay- 
ment of  taxes.     A  land-system  was  established,  by  which  feudal 

578 


MISSIONS   IN   THE   HAWAIIAN   ISLANDS     579 

tenure  was  done  away;  and  with  the  granting  of  over  eleven 
thousand  awards,  the  humble  native  could  possess  his  own 
home  and  taro-patch.  This  was  one  of  the  highest  achieve- 
ments of  Hawaiian  Christianity.  Soon  followed  the  granting  of 
a  constitution  and  the  meeting  of  the  first  law-making  body 
elected  by  the  people. 

Seventy-five  years  ago  the  first  newspaper  in  Hawaiian  was 
published.  Five  years  later  the  entire  Bible  was  printed,  al- 
though portions  of  the  Scriptures  had  appeared  from  time  to 
time  from  the  mission  press.  In  all  two  complete  editions  of  ten 
thousand  copies  each  of  the  Bible,  and  three  editions  of  thirty 
thousand  copies  of  the  New  Testament,  have  been  issued.  A 
large  number  of  religious  and  educational  books,  as  well  as 
popular  and  temperance  literature,  were  distributed,  while  ser- 
mons and  tracts  by  the  thousands  were  eagerly  read.  To  the 
Christian  literature  must  be  attributed  the  high  degree  of  intel- 
ligence of  the  Hawaiians  to-day,  who  three  quarters  of  a  century 
ago  were  just  beginning  to  read  and  write  their  own  language. 
Without  any  exaggeration  they  have  made  greater  progress  in 
these  few  years  than  any  other  people  in  history. 

There  has  been  no  repetition  of  the  wonderful  revival  of  1837- 
184 1,  when  nearly  twenty  thousand  of  a  total  population  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  were  received  into  the  Church, 
and  the  increase  of  houses  of  worship  was  over  seventeen  fold. 
There  has,  however,  been  a  steady  increase  in  the  number  of 
buildings  erected,  except  during  the  few  years  of  great  political 
unrest,  when  the  Church  suffered  greatly.  In  spite  of  the  tre- 
mendous decrease  in  the  native  population,  the  Church  has  held 
her  own. 

The  incoming  of  a  horde  of  Chinese,  Japanese,  Koreans, 
Portuguese,  and  Spanish  as  plantation  laborers,  and  the  peculiar 
mixture  of  whites  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  have  indeed  com- 
plicated the  missionary  problem.  Fortunately,  the  money  of 
the  Island  Christians  has  been  so  consecrated  that  we  now 
have  about  two  thousand  five  hundred  believers  in  the  forty 
churches  for  foreign  populations,  while  the  union  churches  of 
the  Territory  have  the  blood  of  every  race  in  Hawaii  in  their 
membership.  The  generous  spirit  of  Hawaiian  Christianity  was 
seen  in  the  invitation  in  1862  to  the  Episcopalians  to  begin  work 
for  their  own  people,  and  again  in  1894  to  the  Methodists  to  enter 


58o  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

the  field  to  care  for  a  portion  of  the  Japanese  and  to  work  in 
behalf  of  the  Koreans,  among  whom  in  their  native  land  that 
denomination  has  for  so  many  years  labored. 

The  people  here  have  given  so  generously  for  education  that  no 
state  of  the  Union  can  boast  of  better  schools,  which  are  admi- 
rably adapted  to  our  peculiar  racial  and  industrial  conditions. 
The  Lahainaluna  school,  famous  as  the  model  for  General  Arm- 
strong at  Hampton,  for  three  quarters  of  a  century  has  had  a 
remarkable  influence  in  training  men  for  Christian  citizenship. 
Ranking  on  an  equality  with  Lahainaluna  are  a  score  of  other 
private  schools  doing  an  equally  great  work  in  educating  the 
various  races  of  the  Territory. 

The  interest  in  the  Christian  Church  was  never  keener  than  at 
present.  The  field  is  well  manned.  A  hearty  spirit  of  coopera- 
tion exists  among  all  Christians  of  the  Evangelical  order.  The 
increased  devotion  on  the  part  of  the  educated  youth  to  the  best 
interests  of  the  Territory  is  most  encouraging.  The  self-denial 
and  consecration  of  so  many  of  the  Hawaiians  of  all  they  possess 
for  the  maintenance  of  the  Church  are  indeed  models  of  which 
our  Christian  nation  may  well  be  proud.  Native  men  and 
women  living  on  the  slopes  of  Haleakala  have  recently  devoted 
three  weeks  to  building  a  road  through  the  lava  flows  for  the  sole 
purpose  of  being  able  to  haul  lumber  for  the  repairs  of  their 
church-building.  It  is  no  uncommon  thing  for  our  Christians 
to  go  without  necessary  clothing  and  long-needed  repairs  on 
their  houses  in  order  to  have  a  few  more  dollars  for  the  Church. 
At  the  last  semiannual  session  of  the  Maui  and  Molokai  Associa- 
tion, the  natives  climbed  the  worst  precipice  in  the  Islands  — 
an  ascent  of  four  thousand  feet  —  that  they  might  be  present  at 
the  meetings.  At  the  large  Sunday-school  celebration  more  than 
half  the  entire  population  of  the  Island  of  Molokai  took  part  in 
the  exercises.  If  occasionally  traces  of  the  old  superstitions  are 
found,  or  if  a  fish-god  is  discovered  hidden  away  in  some  cave, 
we  must  remember  the  few  years  that  our  people  have  known 
the  truth,  and  we  must  not  be  discouraged. 

An  important  part  of  the  missionary's  task  here,  besides  visit- 
ing the  churches,  is  the  monthly  theological  school  held  regularly 
on  each  of  the  four  larger  islands.  To  this  school  pastors  and 
evangelists  representing  five  races  come,  listen  attentively  to 
sermons,  Bible  outline-studies,  and  lectures  in  theology  and 


MISSIONS   IN   THE   HAWAIIAN   ISLANDS     581 

ethics  by  the  white  leaders.  Sentence  by  sentence  the  work  is 
given  through  an  interpreter,  and  then  reproduced  in  earnest 
sernjons  on  the  following  Sundays.  In  the  great  union  meetings 
occasionally  held,  as  many  as  nine  languages  are  used  in  the 
hymns  and  responses. 

The  American  Church  is  in  these  days  embracing  a  wonderful 
opportunity  of  educating  and  evangelizing  the  children  of  the 
Orientals  who  are  laboring  on  our  fields  and  are  opening  small 
shops  in  the  plantation  camps.  They  must  be  taught  the  Chris- 
tian way  here.  Some  of  them  have  already  returned  to  their 
home  country  earnest  and  true  Christians,  and  ready  to  lead 
their  brethren  into  the  light  that  first  dawned  upon  them  in  our 
Hawaii. 


PROTESTANT   MISSIONS   IN   MEXICO 

Rev.  John  Rowland 
Guadalajara,  Mexico 

The  work  committed  to  the  Church  by  the  Master,  of  evan- 
gelizing the  nations,  has  always  been  found  to  present  numerous, 
intricate,  and  delicate  problems,  whose  elements  vary  with  the 
special  conditions  to  be  found  in  different  lands.  Even  when  the 
missionary  invaded  the  realms  of  gross  paganism,  the  task  was 
soon  found  to  be  simply  stupendous,  requiring  infinite  faith  and 
patience  and  the  most  delicate  tact ;  and  when,  after  a  definite  and 
quite  general  assault  had  been  made  on  the  heathen  world, 
attention  began  to  be  turned  to  nominally  Christian  lands,  the 
undertaking  immediately  became  more  complicated  and  diffi- 
cult. 

Our  next-door  neighbor  to  the  south,  the  former  owner  of  a 
large  part  of  our  present  territory,  and  only  partially  separated 
from  us  by  a  very  slight  and  uncertain  natural  division,  presents 
marked  differences  in  the  character  and  thought  of  its  people, 
as  well  as  in  climatic  and  other  conditions.  The  stolid  patience 
of  the  original  American  has  been  combined  with  the  excitable 
volubility  of  the  Latin  race.  Romanism  has  nominally  taken  the 
place  of  paganism,  inculcating  an  impregnable  self-confidence 
and  an  implacable  hatred  of  all  that  seems  to  impeach,  even  by 
the  simple  fact  of  divergence,  the  boasted  supremacy  of  their 
beliefs. 

The  Declaration  of  Independence  signed  in  Philadelphia  in 
1776  breathes  a  spirit  of  deep  personal  devotion  to  God  and  of 
fundamental  independence  of  thought  and  action.  The  Act  of 
Independence  that  made  Mexico  a  republic  declares  that  the 
nation  shall  always  be  Roman  Catholic  to  the  exclusion  of  all 
other  forms  of  belief.  Although  reform-laws  were  adopted  in 
1857,  affirming  liberty  of  thought  and  worship,  and  President 
Judrez  was  able  to  carry  out  the  almost  miraculous  closing  of 
cloisters  and  the  nationalization  of  the  possessions  of  the  Church ; 

582 


PROTESTANT   MISSIONS   IN   MEXICO        583 

all  of  this  was  looked  upon  as  largely  a  political  matter,  and  it 
could  still  be  said,  with  considerable  truth,  by  Sr.  Romero, 
minister  at  Washington,  that  "the  Mexican  is  a  Romanist  in 
every  fiber  of  his  being." 

The  missionary  found  himself  blundering  ridiculously  in  trying 
to  express  himself  in  one  of  the  most  delicate,  rich,  and  expressive 
of  modern  tongues ;  endeavoring  to  implant  ideas  of  stern  abhor- 
rence of  form  and  show  in  a  people  who  live  largely  in  their  imagi- 
nation; obliged  to  face  everywhere  the  taunt  of  trying  to  corrupt 
the  pure  faith  of  their  neighbors,  offering  as  a  substitute  the 
lucubrations  of  an  apostate  and  licentious  monk;  accused  of 
trying  to  sow  discord  in  a  land  of  peace  and  contentment,  and  of 
preaching  and  teaching  only  as  preparing  the  way  for  foreign 
usurpation. 

Spanish  versions  of  the  Scriptures,  authorized  by  the  Church 
of  Rome,  have  always  had  some  circulation  in  Mexico,  in  spite  of 
their  former  great  cost  and  the  general  opposition  of  the  priests ; 
and  often  a  group  of  evangelically  inclined  persons  was  to  be  found 
gathered  around  one  of  these  works.  During  the  American  in- 
vasion, a  considerable  number  of  copies  of  the  Bible  in  Spanish 
were  carried  into  the  country  by  the  soldiers  and  quite  widely 
scattered.  Miss  Rand  and  others  also  succeeded  in  introducing 
many  Bibles.  In  the  early  seventies  the  country  was  opened  to 
religious  propaganda,  and  the  principal  denominations  promptly 
undertook  organized  work.  The  Episcopalians,  Methodists 
North  and  South,  Baptists  North  and  South,  and  Presbyterians 
established  their  centers  in  the  capital.  The  Congregationalists 
began  in  Guadalajara  on  the  west;  the  Cumberland  Presby- 
terians, in  Aguascalientes  in  the  center ;  the  Associate  Reformed 
and  the  Friends,  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  country. 

Religious  papers  were  established  and  schools  were  opened ; 
but  the  main  effort  was  in  the  line  of  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel. 
Many  true  souls  were  found  who  were  anxiously  waiting  for  the 
manifestation  of  the  truth ;  and  curiosity  and  exaggerated  reports 
of  the  prodigal  generosity  of  the  missionaries  drew  considerable 
numbers  of  hearers  and  adherents,  in  spite  of  the  bitter  opposi- 
tion of  the  priests.  As  the  work  opened  and  calls  multiplied  and 
became  more  pressing,  many  untrained  and  some  unworthy  per- 
sons were  employed  to  aid  in  the  work  of  evangelization ;  and 
there  was  often  a  sharp  and  unfriendly  rivalry  in  the  entering  of 


584  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

promising  districts.  Persecution  was  almost  universal,  and  the 
list  of  known  martyrs  to  the  Cause  is  large;  and  doubtless 
there  were  many  whose  names  are  known  only  to  Him  for 
whom  they  suffered  and  died. 

In  the  nearly  forty  years  of  work,  good  progress  has  been  made. 
A  network  of  centers  of  colportage  and  evangelistic  effort  has 
been  extended,  until  it  covers  practically  the  whole  country.  By 
a  natural  process  of  elimination,  and  by  the  product  of  the 
Evangelical  schools  and  seminaries,  the  character  of  the  ministry 
has  been  much  improved.  Denominational  enmity  and  rivalry 
have  largely  disappeared,  being  replaced  by  fraternity,  loyal 
and  appreciative  cooperation,  and  even  by  consolidation,  as  in 
the  case  of  the  different  branches  of  the  Presbyterians  and  the 
Baptists. 

Educational  work,  which  began  with  the  day-school,  and  for 
years  was  limited  mainly  to  boarding-schools  for  girls,  has  been 
steadily  developed.  Nearly  all  of  the  missions  now  have  theo- 
logical seminaries,  and  normal  and  business  courses  are  being 
offered.  In  many  sections  of  the  country,  the  graduates  of  the 
Evangelical  schools  are  in  demand  as  teachers  for  the  public 
schools ;  and  occasionally,  aside  from  personal  influence,  such  a 
teacher  is  able  to  take  charge  of  the  local  church;  though  the 
strict  interpretation  of  the  law  prohibits  such  a  combination. 
There  is  a  growing  feeling  among  Evangelical  Mexicans  that  there 
has  been  too  much  preponderance  of  influence  by  the  mission- 
aries ;  a  feeling  that  is  to  be  welcomed  rather  than  deplored. 

Reliable  statistics  are  hard  to  obtain,  for  a  variety  of  reasons, 
and  they  are  often  misleading.  Probably  the  number  of  members 
of  Evangelical  churches  has  not  yet  reached  forty  thousand.  The 
constituency  should  probably  be  placed  at  from  four  to  five  times 
that  number.  While  this  is  a  mere  handful,  as  compared  with 
the  thirteen  millions  of  the  total  population,  it  forms  a  leaven 
that  is  very  completely  and  systematically  distributed  throughout 
the  whole  land  and  among  all  classes.  Aside  from  our  perfect 
faith  in  the  supernatural  power  of  the  truth  finally  to  permeate 
everywhere  and  overcome  every  obstacle,  it  is  easy  to  be  optimistic 
when  one  thinks  of  the  natural  efficacy  of  the  influences  so  well 
established  and  so  widely  distributed. 


SOCIOLOGICAL   RESULTS   OF   FOREIGN 
MISSIONS 

Edward  Warren  Capen,  Ph.D. 

Boston,  Mass. 

What  is  the  object  of  the  Christian  missionary?  State- 
ments recently  made  by  missionaries  in  personal  interviews  on 
the  field  represent  the  older  and  the  newer  viewpoints.  Thus 
one  said :  "  If  I  understand  the  modern  missionary  movement, 
its  purpose  is  the  salvation  of  individuals  through  Jesus  Christ. 
Does  an  education,  given  by  Christian  missionaries  and  filled 
with  the  spirit  of  Christ,  really  help  a  man  unless  it  leads  to  his 
conversion?"  "You  are  interested  in  the  sociological  results 
of  missions.  It  will  be  many  years  before  the  missionary  will 
have  time  or  strength  to  undertake  sociological  work."  These 
statements  typify  the  older  view. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  few  missionaries  in  India,  facing  most 
serious  sociological  problems  within  and  without  the  Christian 
community,  say  that  in  addition  to  evangelism  there  is  pressing 
need  in  India  of  industrial  development.  Without  it  India  can 
never  become  a  great  nation,  while  the  Christian  community  can 
never  be  strong  until  its  industrial  efficiency  has  been  raised. 
One  of  the  greatest  services  which  Americans  can  render  India 
is  to  furnish  opportunities  for  industrial  training  and  technical 
education.  Here  speaks  the  most  radically  modern  missionary. 
One  may  well  doubt  whether  the  Christian  missionary  should 
take  up  another  burden  like  this,  at  least  for  the  present.  At 
the  same  time,  one  cannot  stand  in  a  community  of  Indian 
Christians,  often  in  the  quarter  of  the  outcasts,  see  their  pitifully 
meager  lives  and  their  inability  to  earn  more  than  a  mere  pit- 
tance, and  fail  to  see  that  there  is  a  great  reason  for  this  radical 
position.  The  object  of  modern  missions  has  been  well  ex- 
pressed by  Secretary  Barton  of  the  American  Board  as  "the  plant- 
ing in  each  mission  field  of  a  self-supporting,  self-directing,  and 
self-propagating  Christian  community."    It  is  a  far  cry  from  this 

585 


586  RECENT   CHRISTIAN   PROGRESS 

to  the  other  conception  that  the  missionary  is  concerned  ex- 
clusively, or  even  chiefly,  with  the  problem  of  individuals. 

The  sociological  results  of  missions  during  the  last  seventy- 
five  years  may  be  classified  as  follows :  (a)  in  producing  social 
changes  in  mission  lands,  (b)  in  modifying  the  general  attitude 
of  the  missionary,  and  (c)  in  leading  to  the  adoption  of  principles 
and  methods  of  work  which  are  sociologically  sound. 

(a)  Social  Changes.  —  No  matter  what  his  conception  of  his 
work,  the  missionary  inevitably  is  compelled  to  be  a  social  re- 
former. In  every  field  he  finds  customs  and  institutions  out  of 
harmony  with  the  spirit  of  Christ.  These  all  have  the  social 
sanction.  In  merely  attempting  to  interpret  to  people  the 
meaning  of  the  Gospel  and  to  develop  in  them  the  Christian 
character,  he  is  led  to  insist  upon  social  changes. 

The  missionary  everywhere  creates  a  new  type  of  home. 
Questions  of  the  family  and  of  the  relation  of  the  sexes  bulk  large 
in  social  life.  The  Christian  home  has  an  aroma  all  its  own. 
Take  the  ordinary  Zulu  hut,  without  windows,  with  a  single 
door,  perhaps  four  feet  high,  all  begrimed  with  smoke,  and  filled 
with  a  numerous  company  of  people,  including  dogs,  kids,  and 
other  animals.  Contrast  with  it  the  home  of  the  Christian 
Zulu.  Doors  allow  a  visitor  to  enter  erect,  windows  admit 
light  and  air,  the  cooking  is  done  in  a  kitchen,  separate  rooms 
make  possible  privacy  and  decency,  and  a  shelf  of  books  testi- 
fies to  the  new  intellectual  life.  The  spirit  of  the  home  has 
changed  as  much  as  the  building. 

In  general,  the  Christian  missionary  finds  woman  the  property 
of  man.  Her  influence  may  be  great,  but  it  is  that  of  ignorance 
and  superstition.  In  India  and  Ceylon  women  are  one  of  the 
chief  obstacles  to  social  progress.  A  prominent  official  of  the 
Madras  Presidency,  himself  a  highly  educated  Indian,  is  kept 
from  foreign  travel  because  his  aged  mother  threatens  to  com- 
mit suicide  the  moment  he  sets  foot  upon  a  steamer.  An  edu- 
cated Christian  womanhood  is  appearing  everywhere.  The 
public  school  for  girls  is  a  frequent  sight  in  India;  and  while 
these  schools  are  non-religious,  the  proportion  of  Christian 
teachers  is  large,  because  it  is  in  the  Christian  community  that 
the  largest  number  of  well-educated  women  can  be  found. 
Many  progressive  Indian  Moslems  now  believe  in  female 
education,  and  a  normal  school  for  training  Moslem  girls  as 


RESULTS    OF   FOREIGN   MISSIONS  587 

teachers  is  under  way.  No  one  can  contrast  the  scholars  in 
such  a  school  as  that  of  the  American  Board  at  Madura  with  girls 
from  the  same  social  strata  outside,  without  being  struck  with 
the  fact  that  Christianity  is  producing  a  new  type  of  woman. 
That  means  far-reaching  changes  in  home  and  social  life. 

Irregular  relations  between  the  sexes  are  a  part  of  popular 
Hinduism.  Let  any  doubter  visit  the  sacred  cities  with  a  com- 
petent guide.  Against  all  this  Christianity  and  Western  civili- 
zation make  energetic  protest,  and  so  great  has  been  their  in- 
fluence that  the  most  enlightened  Hindus  are  ashamed  of  these 
dark  features  of  their  religion.  Many  of  the  temple  cars,  to 
which  the  laws  against  obscenity  do  not  apply,  are  now  hidden 
from  public  gaze,  except  when  in  actual  use.  Hindu  school- 
teachers devise  entertainments  and  sports  to  keep  their  pupils 
from  taking  part  in  that  vile  festival  which  belies  the  English 
pronunciation  of  its  name,  Holi.  Japanese  writers  admit  that 
the  one-man-one-woman  doctrine  has  become  known  throughout 
the  empire  because  of  the  teaching  of  the  missionary. 

Christianity  is  teaching  a  new  conception  of  the  worth  of  man 
as  man.  The  new  emphasis  upon  the  rights  of  the  individual 
carries  with  it  consequences  which  are  revolutionary.  The 
social  structure  of  the  Orient  is  based  upon  status,  not  upon  con- 
tract, and  the  unit  is  the  family  rather  than  the  individual.  No 
man  can  change  the  status  into  which  he  was  born.  A  robber 
inherits  his  trade,  and  cannot  change  it.  Social  barriers  are  now 
giving  way,  and  Christian  men  from  the  lowest  classes  hold  posi- 
tions of  influence.  Recently  a  Christian  teacher  was  asked  by  a 
Brahmin  to  care  for  his  wife  during  a  railway  journey,  yet  this 
man  was  from  a  caste  that  Brahmins  scorn.  This  sort  of  thing 
has  gone  on  all  over  India,  until  Hindus,  who  would  drive  Chris- 
tianity as  a  religion  into  the  sea,  are  forced  to  admit  that  only  in 
Christianity  is  there  any  hope  for  the  lowest  classes. 

(b)  Missionary  Attitude.  —  The  missionary  is  fast  recogniz- 
ing that  his  work  is  truly  social,  especially  in  those  fields  where 
it  impinges  upon  social  questions.  For  instance,  in  South 
Africa  the  missionary  problem  is  intimately  bound  up  with  the 
racial  question.  The  strategic  points  are  the  industrial  centers, 
into  which  are  drawn  sooner  or  later  a  large  proportion  of  the 
kraal  natives.  Here  they  often  get  their  first  contact  with  white 
civilization  only  to  return  home  wiser  but  worse  men.      The 


588  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

situation  is  complicated  by  the  character  of  the  quarters  fur- 
nished such  natives,  by  the  social  life  offered  them,  by  the 
temptations  put  in  their  way  by  cunning  white  men,  and  by  a 
multitude  of  features  of  life  which  have  all  the  charm  of  novelty. 
The  whole  situation  demands  careful  study  and  a  vigorous  and 
comprehensive  campaign.  I  think  no  such  study  has  yet  been 
made,  but  one  missionary  in  Durban,  almost  crushed  by  a  mul- 
titude of  miscellaneous  duties,  longs  for  leisure  to  make  such  an 
investigation  so  as  to  put  his  work  upon  a  sound  basis. 

The  leading  missionaries  thoroughly  understand  their  fields. 
Their  attitude  towards  native  customs  and  institutions  is  ap- 
preciative, even  when  it  must  be  critical.  Their  work  is  truly 
constructive,  and  they  do  not  expect  the  millennium  at  once. 
The  Christian  community  often  exhibits  faults  of  character, 
the  product  both  of  heredity  and  of  environment,  which  cannot 
be  eradicated  in  a  single  generation.  Missionaries  are  willing 
to  be  patient  and  to  await  the  final  triumph  of  the  high  ideals 
which  they  never  fail  to  set  before  the  people.  This  has  been 
the  attitude  of  the  great  missionaries  of  every  age;  it  is  now 
characteristic  of  the  whole  missionary  body. 

(c)  Missionary  Principles  and  Methods. — Are  the  principles 
and  methods  of  missionary  work  in  harmony  with  sociological 
principles?  Yes,  to  a  very  large  extent.  A  century  ago  mis- 
sionaries used  the  five  great  avenues  of  approach  to  the  heart 
of  the  non-Christian  peoples — education,  industrial  training, 
medical  relief,  publication,  and  evangelization.  The  greatest 
changes  have  been  in  the  matter  of  proportion  and  emphasis. 

It  is  now  recognized  that  the  missionary  campaign  will  be 
long.  Rarely  has  a  whole  people  become  thoroughly  Christian- 
ized within  a  few  years.  It  is  well  to  talk  of  the  evangelization 
of  the  world  in  this  generation,  provided  that  it  is  recognized 
that  the  work  of  the  missionary  will  not  then  be  complete.  Some 
parts  of  the  field  of  the  Rhenish  Missionary  Society  among  the 
Bataks  in  Sumatra  have  been  evangelized;  every  one  has  heard 
of  Jesus  Christ ;  but  the  missionary  force  cannot  withdraw  for 
many  years.  It  is  one  thing  to  induce  people  to  forsake  idolatry 
and  come  under  Christian  instruction ;  it  is  quite  another  thing 
to  create  a  strong  and  intelligent  Church  which  can  direct  and 
support  itself  and  send  missionaries  to  its  neighbors.  Not 
until  this  point  has  been  reached  can  mission  boards  dissolve. 


RESULTS    OF   FOREIGN   MISSIONS  589 

It  is  recognized  by  all  missionaries  that  the  Orient  can  be 
Christianized  only  by  Oriental  Christians.  Upon  the  native 
Christian  depends  the  future.  In  the  older  fields  the  missionary 
must  become  the  educator  and  organizer,  and  in  general  the 
power  behind  the  throne.  Upon  the  native  teacher,  evangelist, 
or  pastor  must  devolve  the  task  of  reaching  the  outsider.  Yet 
the  missionary  must  not  appear  to  lose  interest  in  such  work,  or 
the  native  Church  itself  will  grow  lukewarm.  In  one  field  the 
religion  of  the  missionaries  is  known  as  "  compound  Christian- 
ity," that  is,  Christianity  lived  upon  the  mission  compound, 
because  they  have  given  up  entirely  their  former  work  of  itin- 
erating. 

The  extent  to  which  responsibility  is  placed  upon  the  native 
Church  varies.  As  a  rule  German  and  Dutch  missionaries 
retain  the  control,  while  American  and  English  missionaries  lay 
the  burden  upon  the  natives.  Missionaries  tend  to  keep  the 
reins  in  their  own  hands  too  long  because  of  the  incompetence 
of  untrained  natives.  Yet  where  the  missionary  trusts  his  as- 
sistants the  result  is  encouraging.  There  are  two  high  schools 
in  India,  in  each  of  which  the  young  American  missionary  has 
organized  his  school  upon  the  American  basis  with  faculty  com- 
mittees. In  spite  of  the  skepticism  of  older  missionaries,  the 
schools  are  run  well,  the  missionary's  burden  is  lightened,  and 
the  teachers  are  learning  valuable  lessons.  Into  the  delicate 
question  of  the  relation  between  the  native  worker  and  the  mis- 
sionary, racial  feelings  enter  far  too  widely.  With  the  growing 
sense  of  nationality  in  the  Orient,  this  must  not  be  overlooked. 
In  northern  India,  especially  in  Bengal,  it  is  said  that  Indians 
prefer  to  serve  under  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
because  there  is  a  greater  feeling  of  equality  than  in  the  missions. 
American  missionaries  offend  less  than  Europeans  in  this  matter. 

In  matters  of  theology  and  polity,  missionary  leaders  hold  that 
the  West  should  not  try  to  impose  upon  the  East  types  of  belief 
and  methods  of  organization  which  may  not  be  in  harmony  with 
their  institutions.  If  Christianity  is  to  triumph  in  a  country 
like  India,  for  instance,  the  Church  must  be  regarded  as  an 
Indian,  not  as  an  American  or  European,  organization.  This 
means  not  only  that  missionaries  and  natives  must  become  co- 
workers, but  that  the  native  Church  must  have  freedom  to 
develop  its  own  theology  and  polity.     This  is  a  question  of  the 


590  RECENT   CHRISTIAN  PROGRESS 

future  more  than  of  the  present,  but  it  is  looming  up  in  cer- 
tain fields.  Many  Congregational  missionaries  believe  that  the 
purely  democratic  nature  of  Congregationalism  is  not  in  accord 
with  the  genius  of  the  Orient  and  that  certain  modifications  of 
polity,  chiefly  in  the  direction  of  centralization  of  authority,  are 
already  appearing. 

The  missionary  sees,  as  does  his  brother  in  the  home-land,  that 
Christianity  has  a  message  for  the  whole  of  man,  hence  the  great 
variety  of  work.  Hospitals  and  dispensaries,  asylums  for  lepers, 
schools  for  the  deaf  and  for  the  blind,  homes  for  orphans,  hostels 
for  students  and  for  working-girls  —  these  are  but  a  few  of  the 
ways  in  which  the  missionary  seeks  to  minister  to  the  needs  of  his 
field,  and  in  each  the  goal  is  the  transformation  of  character. 
The  complicated  matter  of  industrial  training  is  attracting  at- 
tention among  missionaries.  It  is  not  clear  what  the  missionary 
can  wisely  attempt,  but  it  is  a  good  sign  that  missionaries  are 
considering  their  duty  with  respect  to  one  of  the  greatest  needs 
of  the  Orient,  the  increase  of  industrial  efficiency. 

As  regards  education,  the  forward  step  has  already  been  taken. 
In  every  mission  field  there  are  normal  schools,  colleges,  and 
theological  seminaries,  which  are  well  adapted  to  meet  present 
needs.  There  is  no  doubt  as  to  the  duty  of  giving  adequate 
training  to  the  Christian  leaders  of  the  future.  The  question  of 
giving  a  higher  Christian  education,  including  Biblical  instruc- 
tion, to  non-Christians,  is  still  under  discussion.  While  the  aim 
of  such  schools  is  always  evangelistic,  their  success,  measured  by 
the  number  of  baptisms,  is  often  slight.  If,  however,  regard  is 
paid  to  the  way  in  which  the  Christian  idea  of  service  is  taught, 
and  the  whole  attitude  towards  religion  and  life  modified,  they 
must  be  pronounced  a  mighty  instrument  for  the  transformation 
of  the  Orient.  They  are  changing  lives  and  training  the  leaders 
and  social  reformers  who  will  aid  in  the  transformation  of  their 
countries.  These  institutions  hold  a  strategic  point  in  the  mis- 
sionary campaign. 

One  of  the  moot  questions  of  missions  concerns  a  principle  of 
great  significance,  What  qualification  shall  be  insisted  upon  for 
baptism?  There  are  some  missionaries  who  require  only  the 
definite  breaking  with  heathenism,  the  living  of  a  moral  life,  and 
familiarity  with  some  of  the  fundamentals  of  Christian  life  and 
belief,  such  as  the  Ten  Commandments,  Lord's  Prayer,  and 


RESULTS    OF    FOREIGN   MISSIONS  591 

Apostles'  Creed.  In  Uganda  ability  to  read  and  acquaintance 
with  more  or  less  of  the  New  Testament  are  also  insisted  upon. 
At  the  other  extreme  are  those  who  set  up  a  standard  so  high  that 
it  could  hardly  be  applied  in  any  church  in  America  to-day.  If 
I  interpret  aright  the  trend  on  the  mission  fields  which  I  have 
visited,  it  is  in  the  direction  of  the  former  position,  even  among 
those  who  insist  upon  credible  evidence  of  conversion.  Wher- 
ever there  are  mass  movements  towards  Christianity,  persons 
must  be  admitted  to  baptism  and  church-membership  whose 
knowledge  of  Christianity  is  of  the  slightest.  Such  Christians 
do  not  average  high,  but  if  the  work  can  be  followed  up,  their 
children  are  far  superior.  If  the  Eastern  countries  are  to  become 
Christian,  it  must  be  through  mass  movements,  and  Christian 
nurture  must  train  into  mature  Christians  those  whose  parents 
have  broken  with  heathenism.  The  abandonment  of  the  old 
must  precede  the  full  adoption  of  the  new.  At  the  same  time 
the  standards  of  the  Christian  life  must  be  kept  as  high  as  pos- 
sible, and  from  this  there  would  be  no  dissenting  voice. 

After  all  has  been  said  about  the  sociological  results  of  mission 
work,  the  greatest  result  is  that  of  the  transformation  of  men  and 
women.  Only  through  the  renewal  of  the  life  of  individuals 
can  nations  be  changed,  and  it  will  spell  the  doom  of  missions 
if  this  truth  ever  becomes  obscured.  There  must  always  be 
before  the  eye  the  vision  of  God  in  Christ  reconciling  the  world 
unto  Himself  and  committing  to  His  children  the  work  of  recon- 
ciliation. This  it  is  which  inspires  and  guides  the  missionary 
movement  to-day,  and  in  this  lies  the  hope  of  its  ultimate  triumph. 


INDEX 


Acts,  Book  of,  112. 

Alliance  of  the  Reformed  churches,   299. 

Anthem,  387. 

Anthropology,  182. 

Apocalypse,  116. 

Apocalyptic  literature,  130. 

Apocrypha,  80,  84,  127. 

Apologetics,  205. 

Arabia,  18;   modern  dialects,  5. 

Arabian  Mission,  319. 

Arabic,  i. 

Aramaic,  6. 

Archaeology,  Christian,  146. 

Archeology,  Oriental,  9,  16,  40,  50,  52, 

74,  127- 
Architecture,  church,  148. 
Arnold,  272. 
Assur,  12. 
Assyria,  9,  61. 
Assyrian,  4. 
Assyriology,  65. 
Atonement,  234. 
Austria,  missions  in,  529. 
Authorized  Version,  35. 
Avircius,  inscription,  150. 

Babylonia,  9,  15,  57- 

Babylonian  List  of  Kings,  54. 

Baptism,  308;  quahfications  for,  590. 

Baptist  churches,  308,  532. 

Baur,     loi,     109,     120,     135,     143.     167, 

208. 
Bcckwith,  203. 

Belles-Lettres  and  Theology,  270. 
Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  157. 
Bcyschlag,  136. 

Bible,  308,  333,  342,  429,  434,  437.  53°- 
Bible  Study  Union,  407- 
Biblical  Theology,  69. 
Biology,  182. 
Bishop,  360. 
Bohemia,  529. 
Bollandists,  156. 
Books,  religious,  440- 
Bownc,  207. 

Brown,  William  Adams,  204. 
Browning,  271. 


Bruder,  89. 

Bryant,  274. 

Bulgarian  missions,  536. 

Burckhardt,  21. 

Burma,  missions  in,  557. 

Bushnell,  208,  221,  237,  472- 

Bussell,  267. 

Byron,  270 

Calah,  ri. 

Campbell,  McLeod,  237, 
Canaan,  62. 
Carey,  276. 
Carlyle,  272. 
Cassites,  60. 
CathoUc  Epistles,  116. 
Charity  Organization,  458. 
Children,  354,  407,  412,  431.  473- 
China,  missions  in,  561. 
Choir,  383. 

Christ,  Hfe  of,  118;  Doctrine  of,  219; 
Person  of,  219,  249;  Prophetic  office, 
231;  Kingly  office,  233;  Priestly  office, 
234;  sermons  about,  348. 

Christian  Endeavor,  401,  414- 

Chronology,  52. 

Chronicles  and  Memorials  of  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland,  155. 

Church  Administration,  356. 

Cities,  490,  510- 

City  Church,  390. 

Clarke,  202. 

Codex  Alexandrinus,  82. 

Codex  Sinaiticus,  81,  95. 

Codex  Vaticanus,  81. 

Colenso,  46. 

Coleridge,  270. 

Commentaries,  36,  84,  105. 

Comparative  Religion,  74,  189. 

Conditional  Immortality,  242. 

Confession  of  Faith,  300. 

Congregationalism,  284. 

Congregational  singing,  385. 

Cooper,  273. 

Country  Church,  397. 

Creation,  197,  216. 

Criticism,  Historical,  37. 

593 


594 


INDEX 


Crypt  of  the  Acilii  Glabriones,  148. 
Crypt  of  the  Flavians,  147. 

Dale,  236. 

Darwin,  198. 

D'Aubign6,  162. 

Davidson,  77. 

Deaf,  451. 

Death,  241. 

Deism,  213. 

Deissmann,  90. 

Delitzsch,  36. 

Democracy,  174,  286. 

Denney,  230. 

De  Rossi,  146. 

DeWette,  36,  43,  71. 

Dillman,  36,  77. 

Disruption  of  Presbyterian  Church,  297. 

Divorce,  473. 

Doctrine,  311. 

Dollinger,  158. 

Dorner,  212. 

Drummond,  201. 

Dwight,  288. 

East- Windsor  Hill,  331. 

Ecce Homo,  228,  267. 

Education,  305,  312,  317,  498,  525,  543; 

theological,    305,    331;    religious,   410; 

religious,    in    pubUc    schools,    429;  in 

colleges,    433;     in    Burma,    558;     in 

China,  563;  in  India,  590. 

Egypt,  17,  55- 

Eliot,  George,  273. 

Emerson,  274. 

Emotions,  365. 

Encyclopaedia,  Theological,  251. 

Eponym  Canon,  53. 

Ethics,  266,  349,  431. 

Ethiopic,  2. 

EvangeHsm,  310,  342,  363,  394,  525. 

Ewald,  36,  45,  67. 

Exegesis,  of  the  Old  Testament,  35;  of 
the  New  Testament,  100;  in  Great 
Britain,  105;  in  America,  106. 

Experiential  preaching,  346. 

Fairbairn,  229. 
Faith,  257. 
Family  Life,  472. 
Famine,  549. 
Fatherhood  of  God,  215. 
Federalists,  286. 

Federation  of  Churches,  323,  326. 
Field,  83. 
Finney,  288,  363. 
Fiske,  200. 
Flint,  207. 

Foreign  missions,  276,  290,  302,  310,  318, 
324,411;  theory  and  method  of,  522. 


Forrest,  208. 

Fourth  Gospel,  in. 

Francis  d'Assisi,  157. 

Frank,  210. 

Free  Churches,  532. 

Freedmen,  494. 

Friedberg,  159. 

Friends,  the  Society  of,  3 14. 

Future  Probation,  242. 

Gabler,  70. 

Geography,    of    Palestine,    20,    127;     of 

missions,  523. 
George,  45. 

German  Evangelical  Church,  320. 
German  Palestine  Society,  23. 
Gess,  224. 
Giddings,  267. 
Gieseler,  142. 
God,  doctrine  of,  213,  259. 
Gonorrhoea,  479. 
Gore,  229. 

Governmental  theory,  234. 
Graf,  46,  74. 
Greek,  28. 
Gregory,  97. 
Grimm,  89. 
Gustavus  Adolphus  Society,  278. 

Hagenbach,  162,  168. 

Half-way  Covenant,  290. 

Hamilton,  207. 

Hammurabi,  15,  59. 

Harnack,  136,  144,  171. 

Hartford  Seminary,  334,  445. 

Hauck,  159. 

Hawaiian  Islands,  missions  in,  578. 

Hebrew,  3,  7. 

Hefele,  158. 

Hegel,  209. 

Herrmann,  212,  266. 

Hexateuch,  critical  analysis  of,  63. 

Higher  Criticism  of  the  New  Testament, 

109. 
Higher  Criticism  of  the  Old  Testament,  43. 
Hinscius,  159. 
History,  Oriental,  52;    of   Israel,  63;    of 

Persian  period,  66 ;   of  New  Testament 

times,  126;    of  the  Early  Church,  138; 

of  the  Medieval  Church,   153;    of  the 

Reformation,    160;    of  Doctrine,    166; 

of  Religion,  191;  of  Modern  European 

Church,  276. 
Hittites,  16. 
Hodge,  236. 
Holmes,  274. 
Holmes  and  Parsons,  80. 
Holtzmann,  136. 
Home  missions,  303,  304,  310,  315,  318, 

487,501. 


INDEX 


595 


Hopkins,  288. 
Huxley,  199. 
Hyde,  268. 
Hymnology,  374. 
Hymn-tunes,  386. 

Idealism,  258. 

Ihmels,  211. 

Illingworth,  267. 

Immanence,  215. 

Immigration,  491,  509,  516. 

Implicit  faith,  241. 

India,  325,  548,  585. 

Individualism,  264. 

Industrial  Training,  453,  526,  590. 

Industrv',  514. 

Infallibility,  283. 

Infants,  245. 

Inner  Mission,  278. 

Inscriptions,  128. 

International  Lesson  System,  407. 

Irving,  273. 

Japan,  325,  566. 

Kaftan,  211. 

Kant,  100. 

Keats,  270. 

Keil,  36. 

Keim,  122. 

Kenotic  Theory,  224. 

Kidd,  267. 

Kiee,  169. 

Kliefoth,  168. 

Knights  of  King  Arthur,  416. 

Kuenen,  37,  47,  74. 

Lagarde,  83. 

Lanier,  275. 

Last  Things,  240. 

Lea,  158. 

Leighton,  268. 

Lend-a-Hand  Societies,  413. 

Liberalism,  287. 

Liddon,  228. 

Literature,  religious,  440,  526,  543. 

Liturgies,  370. 

Longfellow,  274. 

Lowell,  274. 

Lutheran  Church,  531. 

Mansel,  207. 

Man's  Place  in  Nature,  197. 
Manufactures,  285. 
Marheineke,  167. 
Mason,   382. 
Massoretic  Text,  26. 
Materialism,  258. 
Mathcson,  200. 
Mathews,  268. 
2Q 


Maurice,  237,  267. 

Medical  Work,  527,  542,  555,  563,  590. 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  304. 

Mexico,  missions  in,  582. 

Migne,  156. 

Milman,  158. 

Missionaries,    524. 

Modernism,   282. 

M onumcnta  Gcrmanid  HUtorica,  154. 

Moravian  Church,  531. 

Morrison,  277. 

Mosheim,  141. 

Mozley,  208. 

Murray,  267. 

Music,  church,  382. 

Musical  Conventions,  384. 

Nash,  268. 

National  Council,  294. 

Native  Leaders,  525 

Native  teachers,  India,  589. 

Naturalism,  193. 

Neander,  134,  142,  168. 

Negro,  494,  509- 

Nestle,  82,  98. 

Nettleton,  288. 

Newman,  169,  273. 

Newspapers,  447. 

Niffer,  15. 

Nineveh,  11. 

Nippur,  58. 

Nitzsch,  170. 

Orders  of  worship,  371. 

Organization  of  churches,  301,  352,  358. 

Organs,  385. 

Palestine,  16. 

Palestine  Exploration  Fund,  22. 

Paley,  206. 

Papacy,  281. 

Papal  Crypt,  147. 

Papyri  of  1877,  151. 

Pastor,  350. 

Pater,  273. 

Patten,  268. 

Pauline  P>pistles,  114. 

Peabody,  268. 

Penology  and  Child  Saving,  483. 

Pentateuch,  43. 

Periodicals,  41,  440. 

Persepolis,  13. 

Persian,  13,  58. 

Personality,  345. 

Peshitta,  29. 

Philology  of  the  New  Testament,  86. 

Philosophy,  173. 

Phcenician,  6. 

Physical  demonstrations  in  revivals,  367. 

Plan  of  Union,  291. 


596 


INDEX 


Polity,  292. 

Poor,  456. 

Preaching,  336. 

Presbyterian  Church,  297. 

Press,  the  religious,  447 ;  in  India,  551. 

Priestly  legislation,  44. 

Prisons,  483. 

Prohibition,  470. 

Providence,  217. 

Psychology,  173. 

Psychology,   of   Religion,    180;    Genetic, 

183. 
Ptolemaic  Canon,  52. 

Rabbinic  thought,  129. 

Rainy,  170. 

Ranke,  162. 

Rauschenbusch,  268. 

Reformed  Church,  317,  531- 

Reglementation  of  social  evil,  480. 

Reland,  20. 

Religion,  science  of,   191;    classification, 

192;    definition,  192;    as  history,  261; 

science  of,  260;   Eastern,  523. 
Renan,  121. 
Reuss,  44,  135- 
Revised  Version,  40. 
Revivals,  287,  363,  390. 
Ritschl,  loi,  no,  121,  135,  144,  210,  225, 

238,  266. 
Robinson,  21. 
Ross,  268. 

Saloon,  410,  470. 

Salvation  Army,  280. 

Samaritan  Pentateuch,  28. 

Sanding,  496. 

Savonarola,  158. 

SchafF,  142. 

Schenkel,  122. 

Schleiermacher,  loi,  109,  168,  205,  209, 

223,  262,  266. 
Schmiedel,  91. 
Schools,  290. 
Schiirer,  126. 
Schultz,  77,  209,  266. 
Schwane,  169. 

Science,  physical,  177,  181,  198,  214,  256. 
Seetzen,  20. 
Semites,  59. 
Semitic  Philology,  i. 
Semler,  loi. 
Septuagint,  30. 
Shedd,  168,  236. 
Shelley,  270. 
Shorthouse,  273. 
Singing-schools,  383. 
Slavery,  494. 
Small,  267. 
Smyth,  267. 


Social  Evil,  477. 

Socialism,  176,  279,  312. 

Social  Settlements,  462. 

Sociological  Results  of  Foreign  Missions, 

585- 
South,  491. 

South  Africa,  missions  in,  572. 
Southern  Churches,  299. 
Spencer,  207. 
Stearns,  201,  212. 
Storr,  70. 

Strauss,  118,  167,  208,  220. 
Strong,  267. 

Student  Volunteer  Movement,  437. 
Sumerians,  59. 

Sunday-school,  277,  401,  404,  474,  489. 
Supernaturalism,  193. 
Swete,  82. 
Swinburne,  271. 
Synoptic  Gospels,  in. 
Synthetic  Disciplines,  246. 
Syphilis,  478. 
Syriac,  3. 

Taylor,  289. 

Teacher,  408. 

Tell-el-Amarna  letters,  14,  24,  54. 

TeUo,  14,  58. 

Temperance,  466. 

Tennyson,  271. 

Textual    Criticism    of   New    Testament, 

94- 
Textual  Criticism  of  Old  Testament,  26. 
Theology,  255,  335,  444- 
Theology  of  New  Testament,  132. 
Theology  of  Old  Testament,  69. 
Tholuck,  102. 
Thomasius,  170,  224. 
Thomson,  271. 
Thothmes  III,  23. 
Tischendorf,  82,  94. 
Tobler,  22. 
Tractarianism,  279. 
Tregelles,  95. 

Tri-denominational  Union,  295, 
Trinity,  215. 
Tiibingen  School,  loi. 
Turkey,  missions  in,  541. 

Union  of  churches,  281,  298,  306,  319, 

323,  410,  528.  570- 
Unitarianism,  220. 
Universal  Salvation,  243. 
Universities,  254,  436. 

Vatke,  37,  44,  72.  134- 
Version,  28. 
Vincent,  267. 
Von  CoUn,  71. 
Vulgate,  29. 


INDEX 


597 


Ward,  Mrs.  Humphry,  273. 

Wardlaw,  267. 

Weiss,  136. 

Wcllhausen,  48,  67. 

Wendt,  211. 

Westcott  and  Hort,  97. 

Westward  emigration,  285,  490,  301. 

Whitman,  275. 

Wilke,  89. 

Winer,  87. 

Women,  India,  586. 


Woolsey,  473. 
Wordsworth,  270. 
Worship,  369. 
Wycliff,  157. 

Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  418, 

434- 
Young  People,  412. 
Young  Women's   Christian   Association, 

425. 


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and  the  account  taken  of  all  important  renderings  in  the  different 
versions  of  the  Bible. 

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GALATIANS      Now  ready       JOHN 

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